At 23, Sergino Dest has already experienced the highs and lows of football. After the dream move from Ajax to Barcelona came the “mistake” in Milan. He was then flying at PSV before an anterior cruciate ligament injury brought him down to earth again.
“Unfortunately, my life path went in a different direction to what it should be going,” he tells Sky Sports. But the message from Dest is that the journey is not over. The talent remains and as he returns to full fitness, the ambitions for the future are still sky high.
There is a World Cup in the United States on the horizon. “That is going to be special.” Before that, there is work to do in Eindhoven as PSV look to retain the Eredivisie title that Dest helped to win last season. From there, the plan is to get back to the big leagues.
Dest made the big move from Ajax to Barcelona when still a teenager
“Obviously, PSV is a great club, but I have a lot of ambitions and I know what I can do. 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.”
In the meantime, he is working his way back and keeping busy. “Always busy, man.” He is speaking to Sky Sports fresh from opening a football court in his home-town of Almere, just outside Amsterdam. To the children there, his success is an inspiration.
“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 it is something big and I am proud of it.”
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Dest has opened a football court in his hometown of Almere
It is an impressive sight in Almere. “It is something new around here and I want to motivate them to go outside and play.” It is not so long ago that Dest was the young boy out there honing his skills. “Yeah, not so long ago,” he agrees. “But also a long time ago.”
There it is, that sense of a career in flux. The skills that lit up those street games in Almere took him all the way to El Clasico and to a World Cup in Qatar, following his much-discussed decision to represent the United States instead of the Netherlands.
Dest in action for the United States against the Netherlands at the World Cup
Only now, given his injury, is he coming to terms with all that he won – and all that he lost. Dest achieved the dream absurdly early. Plucked from Erik ten Hag’s Ajax, he found himself thrust into Barcelona’s first-team alongside Lionel Messi while still a teenager.
Now, he is readjusting to life back in the Eredivisie at a time when the expectation was that his career would be on the rise. He wants to go again, talks of being eager not to waste time because he can still improve. But memories of Camp Nou linger inside him.
Looking back, it impacted his loan 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.”
Dest made only 14 appearances for Milan that season after what had been a whirlwind two years at Barca. “Everything went really fast but I enjoyed every little minute of it. Going into that dressing room, playing against Real Madrid, winning the Copa del Rey.”
Dest playing in El Clasico up against Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior
Lessons from Messi
He can always say that he played with Messi during the legend’s last ever season at Barcelona. “I was not really thinking about it like that at the time, but that is crazy if you think about it.” Seeing Messi and Antoine Griezmann work up close was an education.
“Watching them in training and in games, you try to improve your game by learning what that they do that make them so good.” What, exactly? “A lot of the time, it is by delaying. They see where they need to run or pass but it is different. They see the bigger picture.”
He explains: “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.”
Dest and Lionel Messi celebrate a goal together at Barcelona
More than a full-back
Dest has plenty of special skills of his own. Gary Neville once said that nobody grows up dreaming of being a full-back but Dest is no ordinary full-back. He is fond of getting his best bits clipped up for his social channels and takes pride in those flicks and tricks.
“Look, even with all these wingers, I can still make highlights videos – and I am a full-back! It is possible. And I enjoy it,” he says.
Dest in World Cup action for the United States against England in Qatar
“You can make every position a nice position. You just have to make it your own. I play with flair, I give it my own style. Obviously, I need to improve on certain things. I can be better. But I feel like the way I do it is about flair but it is also about being functional.
“You see, it is not that difficult for me to bypass a man. I feel like these tricks that people say are too much are okay because they are actually functional. It makes you creative. If you can create when the game is locked, your dribble can create that two vs one.”
Pushing on at PSV
Peter Bosz, the head coach at PSV who is doing such an impressive job, understands this. “He just loves me as a player, man. He has a lot of confidence in me, he is patient and he trusts me. That is the best thing you can have. And he pushes me to the limits.”
Those kids in Almere were shocked when he chose to join PSV. “They could not believe it!” But Ajax were 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,” he explains.
Even so, there are fond memories of the famous old club, and words of support for Ten Hag, particularly his man-management skills after he gave Dest time off to decide his international future. “He was very kind to me. I thought he was a really good coach.”
Dest began his journey at Ajax under then coach Erik ten Hag
Dest settled on the United States, where his father was born, and remains utterly convinced it was the right move for him. “That was the best choice of my life. I will never ever regret it. I have had so many beautiful experiences and I feel important there.”
It is a recurring theme of the conversation. After the rise and the feelings of rejection, there is the need to be valued. “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,” he says.
“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.
“I have an amazing season, became a champion and could not even play the last game where we became champions. 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.
“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.” The message from Dest is clear. He is just getting started.
“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.”