In the fifth and final edition of our summer signing mini-series, we discover ten lesser-known facts about Kevin De Bruyne...
- Dig them roots: Although born in Drongen, Belgium, De Bruyne was eligible to play for Burundi as his mother is Burundian! Instead, he opted to represent the Red Devils.
- Game changer: De Bruyne became a first-team regular for Belgium in their World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign. He scored four times as the Red Devils qualified for their first major tournament in 12 years.
- Strong language: The midfielder can speak fluent Dutch, French and English.
- Cool threads: Last year, he started his own pop-up clothing line called ‘KDB’ in partnership with clothing label Cult Eleven. A portion of the proceeds from the line is sent to the Special Olympics - an organisation Kevin has spent a lot of time working with throughout his career.
- Destined to be teammates: KDB made his senior debut exactly one day after fellow new signing Nicolas Otamendi. Two future stars debuting continents away from one another... who would have thought they’d be teammates one day!
- Top treble: He began his senior career at Genk and netted his first hat-trick for the club in a 5-4 win over Club Brugge in October 2011.
- Downing the champions: In January 2015, he scored a brace for Wolfsburg in a 4-1 win over Bayern Munich, which was the German champions’ first Bundesliga defeat since April 2014.
- Stat attack: Throughout Europe’s top five leagues last season, no-one had more assists than De Bruyne, who tallied up 27 for Wolfsburg across all competitions. His 20 Bundesliga assists meant he had eight more than the man behind him.
- Key man: According to WhoScored.com, KDB also led the Bundesliga with 3.3 key passes per game. He’s not bad in front of goal either as his 16 goals point to his impressive finishing ability.
- Earning the plaudits: Unsurprisingly as a result of those stats, he was voted the Bundesliga’s Player of the Year for 2014/15 and was also named in the UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season.
