Heerenveen midfielder Rodney Kongolo is featured this week in an interview with Dutch outlet Voetbal International.
The 22-year-old has a very interesting past, as he was at the academy of Eredivisie giants Feyenoord, and moved to Manchester City when he was still an academy player.
FR12, who cover the interview, write that Chelsea and Manchester City were both interested in signing him from the Dutch side back in 2014, and Kongolo recalls the move.
“It was so nice to be wanted by such big clubs. That is what you dream of as a child? I was very proud of it. I had the feeling: now it’s really going to start,” Kongolo told Voetbal International (via FR12).
“I don’t know whether Feyenoord was too slow, but it was mainly about the recognition. At Feyenoord I didn’t get the feeling that there was a very concrete plan, they didn’t really take it through. If you are at the same time in the interest of such large clubs, it’s not very difficult for a young boy to choose.
“It was always my ambition to get to Feyenoord’s first team and then the top. But then Manchester City offered me a great opportunity and I took a detour, but I’m still very young. It’s certainly not too late to make my dreams come true,” he said (via Voetbal Primeur).
Things didn’t work out very well for him at Manchester City. He belonged to the club between 2014 and 2018, and was never given the chance to make his debut for the first team.
In his time in England, the only professional football he played was during a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers, for whom he made 42 appearances. So in 2018 he agreed a deal to join Heerenveen, where he’s been a regular starter lately.
“When you notice that you’re about to get stuck, you have to move on.
“So I indicated that I wanted to leave and switched the switch. I have a positive approach. I didn’t think: This is the end of my dream to reach the top. I thought: There are several roads to Rome.”
