He reached the seniors with Barça but, somehow, Sergiño Dest (Almere, Netherlands, November 3, 2000) had to start again. His success at Ajax led him to sign for Barça, but the team’s instability punished him as a culé until he left because he did not agree with Xavi’s plans. Back in the Eredivisie, the winger has found his best form at PSV Eindhoven, where he played alongside Peter Bosz until he injured his knee last April.
In Barcelona, where he is participating in his recovery phase, Dest spoke to SPORT for a long interview.
First: How is the knee moving? When will we see you play again?
Everything is going well, as planned. It’s not easy mentally but I’m motivated to come back strong and I’m confident that I can come back in February. But if it takes more time, nothing happens, the important thing is to recover well.
You, Carvajal, Marc Bernal… Maybe it’s just a feeling, but it seems like there are knee injuries recently.
I don’t know the facts, but it wouldn’t surprise me. It’s an accident, but as players we face more games and we get less rest.
Are you one of those counting down the days until it returns?
It’s hard at first, but you have to accept what happened. You try to forget about football for a bit, focus on recovery and enjoy life differently; friends, family, events that you could not go to the season … But of course, then the Champions League begins and it is impossible not to feel the shock inside. Or when you go to the stadium and your nose attacks you.
Sergiño Dest went to SPORT in Barcelona / Sandra Dihör / Agencia LOF
Your case is unusual. At Milan he didn’t play but at PSV he played with flying colors from day one. Is it easy to regain self-confidence?
(Laughter). I always knew what I could contribute and when I arrived at PSV I felt very supported. Bosz had a lot of confidence in me and that gave me the motivation to work 100% on the field and help the team. The atmosphere was calm, peaceful, and this brought peace in my head to achieve my best work. PSV really believed in me.
Of the few things you had, you chose to return to the Eredivisie. Why?
I wanted to play in the Champions League and have the opportunity to have more minutes to continue growing. I felt that I had to make a ‘reset’ and if I had gone to a certain team, I probably wouldn’t have had many minutes because I came from a loan in Milan where I didn’t play much…
Let’s talk about Barça. What do you think of the Flick team?
He is doing very well and knows exactly what he wants. This year they can win LaLiga because they are already showing how hungry they are for the title. He started very well and now he has to continue like this.
Do you keep in touch with old friends?
I talk to several of them, not every day but from time to time.
He arrived at Barça at a time of turmoil at organizational level. How do you value your time as a culé?
It was amazing and amazing. I will always carry Barça in my heart. It was a shame that it ended like that because I feel like I can still be useful to the team. But when a new coach comes in and he has his own ideas you can’t change them.
Sergiño Dest, during the Barça match / EFE
The feeling you gave is that you arrived with a lot of confidence and ‘on fire’ but gradually you lose faith.
I share with them, I arrived ‘flying’, I wanted to show, play… and things were going well for me personally. But in the end I was new here, my friends didn’t know me… In the end I have a style where I usually risk football but here I was asked to play another game. This made me lose confidence in my decisions, doubt whether you should be yourself or change your style and that doubt can destroy your performance.
Did the stress help?
Undoubtedly, but mostly on a group level. These were not good times for the club. The organization was frustrated, there were many problems with the game and there was a bit of chaos. The result was corrupted because the required signature was not generated anymore. And then everything is chained. ‘This player has to leave’, ‘the other one is too bad’ they started… all this is weighing.
There are players who close their social networks to avoid seeing or reading harsh criticism.
It doesn’t have to be this way, but that’s how it works. And you have to accept it. Because if you don’t you will end up drowning. Sure, sometimes you read things, but you can’t change what they say about you. You should waste time on things you can control.
Sergiño Dest vs. Mendy in a classic event / Javi Ferrandiz
Do you have any regrets?
I can’t say I regret it, because in the end it was something beyond my control, but I don’t feel like I had the chance I needed with Xavi. I felt like I had to play with the boundaries, that I wasn’t alone. I wanted to join them, because it is my greatest strength, but they asked me not to go.
What happened to Xavi?
I think he was not honest with me. We talked a few times and he told me one thing but then I doubted if that was really true. In the summer, before going on vacation, he told me “I trust you, don’t read the newspapers.” And as soon as he came back, he told me “you have to go.”
Who impressed you the most as a teammate?
Messi, of course. You watch it on YouTube, you play a video game… and suddenly you have it right there, right in front of you. There was a good atmosphere in the locker room the first year, he made jokes… then it changed and that pleasant feeling was lost a little.
Sergiño Dest went to SPORT in Barcelona / Sandra Dihör / Agencia LOF
Let’s get back to the basics. Or rather, in the future. Any chance we’ll see you back in LaLiga in the near future?
Yes! I hope so. I am very happy and grateful to PSV but I am very ambitious and I want to play in one of the big five clubs in Europe. I think I have the level and if I work hard and regularly I think I can achieve it, without a doubt. I don’t know what will happen, but I want to return to LaLiga in the future.
In two years there is a World Cup in the United States. Special selection for you.
I will enjoy every minute of this tournament, I want to be important for my country. It’s still a long way off. It can be a ‘click’ for the United States, it can put forwards and backwards and we are very happy.
