Sergino Dest on the lessons he learned from Messi, the mistake of moving to AC Milan and his future ambitions

‘’Obviously, PSV is a great club, but I have a lot of ambitions and I know what I can do,’’ says Dest. ‘’I feel that my level needs to be in the top five leagues, so I am working really hard for that. I have been in a lot of beautiful places. I want to get back to these beautiful places.’’

After impressing at Ajax, the fullback moved to FC Barcelona in 2019. What followed were a whirlwind two seasons at the club and a failed move to AC Milan. ‘’Milan for me was a big mistake. Obviously, it is a beautiful club but I was not ready at that time to go there, mentally. At that moment, my heart was still in Barcelona and I could not really focus on the next thing. I think that is why it went the way it went.’’

Learning from Messi

At FC Barcelona, Dest learned from some of the greats, including Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann. The way players like them can delay the play is something that always stuck with him. ‘’They see where they need to run or pass but it is different. They see the bigger picture. Sometimes if you delay the play, it looks like you are going to pass it but in the last second you change your mind, adjust your body and with one touch you pass it to the other player. That is unpredictable for the opponent and so difficult to defend.’’

His choice to join PSV on loan instead of Ajax last season came as a bit of a surprise, but he stated that Ajax was in no shape for him to return. ‘’It is a bit chaotic at the club and at this moment I have had enough chaotic. I need something stable and calm. PSV was there in a difficult moment. They still had faith and believed in me, so that was important and I am really thankful for that.’’

‘’I have an amazing season, became a champion and could not even play the last game where we became champions,’’ says Dest. ‘’It was frustrating. Since then, it has been a lot of hours in the gym to get every muscle to a strong level again. It takes time but it is going well.’’

‘’It was difficult mentally because you do not want to go back to the Eredivisie if you have played for these big clubs’’

The injury came at the wrong time as Dest was planning to move to a club in Europe’s top five leagues. ‘’It was difficult mentally because you do not want to go back to the Eredivisie if you have played for these big clubs. My mentality was that I was going to kill it and get back up again. But then, unfortunately, came the injury. It was all sunshine until the injury.’’ 

‘’Maybe it is good for me to be stable at one club a little longer because I kept moving every year to another club. But I also do not want to waste time. I want to get the maximum out of my career.’’

‘’I am glad that I had this path. I made a lot of mistakes that I will not make in the future. It is just all experience, man. I accept it. I cannot change it. This is just the path I have to follow at this moment. And better things will come. I know I am going to come back.’’

Football court Almere

This year, Dest also opened up a football court in his hometown of Almere. ‘’I had been thinking about this years ago, but I think this was the right time for me to do it. It is amazing to create your own legacy, putting my own field, my own name out there in the world. And the kids here, they love it. That is something big and I am proud of it. It is something new around here and I want to motivate them to go outside and play.’’

 

Dit bericht op Instagram bekijken

 

Een bericht gedeeld door Sergiño Dest (@sgd_2)