Kevin De Bruyne on Man City teammate Raheem Sterling: ‘I thought he would be a bit of a dickhead’

The Belgian talks about Sterling, his lack of communication with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, and how he was too nervous to message his wife

Kevin De Bruyne has revealed he thought Raheem Sterling would be “a bit of a dickhead” before he got to know him at Manchester City.

De Bruyne, who joined Manchester City from Wolfsburg in the same summer as Sterling in 2015, claimed the press misrepresented not only Sterling but also himself as “the Chelsea reject”.

He went on to say that Sterling was “one of the nicest, most humble guys I’ve met in football”, saying he could not be more different from what how the tabloid press perceived him.

In a wide-ranging piece for The Players’ Tribune, titled ‘Let Me Talk’, De Bruyne also revealed details about his reclusive personality, how he was too nervous to message his future wife, and how he only spoke to Jose Mourinho twice while at Chelsea.

But it was his blunt, honest presumptions of Sterling that were most astounding.

“I wil let you in on a little secret,” said De Bruyne. “Before I came to Manchester City, I didn’t really know what to make of this Raheem Sterling guy. I didn’t think he’d be a bad guy really, but the tabloids were always claiming that he was arrogant.

“So I guess I thought he’d be... what do the English call it? A bit of a dickhead, maybe?”

Despite these initial assumptions, De Bruyne now sees Sterling as a close friend. “I really got to know Raheem, and I recognised what a smart and genuine person he is.

“It’s a great lesson, I think. In my experience, footballers can be a lot different than you expect, especially if you really get to know them.”

The 27-year-old also revealed he barely spoke to Chelsea manager Mourinho during his time at Stamford Bridge.

De Bruyne struggled to make an impact at Chelsea (Getty)

The first time was Mourinho insisting that De Bruyne was part of his first-team plans, but by December and having played just three league games, De Bruyne made it known to his manager that he wanted to leave.

“It was so strange – we had a bit of a conversation about me going back out on loan. And Mata was also out of favour at the time, so Jose said ‘Well, you know, if Mata leaves, then you will be the fifth choice instead of sixth.’

“I was completely honest. I said ‘I feel like the club doesn’t really want me here. I want to play football. I’d rather you sell me.’”

The Belgian also humorously divulged how he was too shy to contact his now-wife on Twitter, after she liked one of his tweets while on loan at Werder Bremen

De Bruyne is finding his form again after a season plagued by injury (Reuters)

“I tweeted something about a match or whatever, and this pretty girl favourited it. I was single at the time, and my friend noticed it. So he said, ‘She looks like a nice girl, no? You should send her a message.'

“And I literally said to him, ‘No, no, no. People don’t like me. They don’t get me. She won’t respond.'

“So he grabbed my phone and started tapping out a message. Says it all, no? I’m supposed to be this big footballer, and I didn’t even have the heart to slide into my future wife’s DM’s! I didn’t dare!”

Now married with two children, De Bruyne is settled in Manchester, and is refinding his best form on the pitch too, assisting twice in City’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.