Dutch professional footballers can be found in all corners of the world, from the spotlights of the major European leagues to the more adventurous employments on other continents. In the Over de Grens section, Voetbalzone speaks weekly with a player who is active outside the national borders. This time the focus is on Kevin Diks, who is being rented out by Fiorentina to the Danish Aarhus GF this season and is finally enjoying football again after a lingering knee injury.
By Thijs Verhaar
“Life in Denmark is expensive, especially restaurants and so on.” That is the only negative point Diks can come up with after a flaming argument about beautiful nature, friendly people, good football organizations and a warm club that has given him all the time and space to strengthen his body after a year and a half struggling with a knee injury. “It’s all great here, only six euros for a cappuccino is of course pricey.” A cheerful laugh blares through the phone. “That is really the only thing I can come up with and it is not even a problem for me, because I can still spare some money for a nice cup of coffee.”
Diks broke through at Vitesse at the age of seventeen and made such an impression that he made a top transfer to Fiorentina after a year and a half. The Italian subtopper put three million euros on the table and outlined a plan to slowly prepare him for a successful career in Serie A. Only the word slow did not really fit with Diks’ youthful enthusiasm, he admits five years later. . “I honestly say that that step was simply too big to take all at once. In terms of culture change, in terms of playing style and in terms of competition. I especially saw bella vita, but had competitors like Federico Bernardeschi and Gilberto that I had to compete against. So I knew in my heart that I would not play immediately, but I thought I would get chances quickly. ”
Kevin Diks as a young talent at Vitesse.
He found two times five minutes playing time in the first half of the season not enough, so he insisted on a rental to his old club Vitesse. The Arnhemmers were in the semi-finals of the cup at the time and were interested in hiring him. “I therefore went to the chairman to ask where I was, because I was tired of sitting on the bus with the youth team for five or six hours to play my matches there. I didn’t come for that and the club didn’t pay three million for that, I told myself. ” The club wanted to keep him closer to home and offered two options in Serie B, but Diks saw more in a temporary return to his familiar environment. “In retrospect I sometimes think that I could have stayed in Italy better then, but on the other hand I would not have won the cup with Vitesse. And I would not have won my two prizes with Feyenoord. ”
Nevertheless, it is something the now 24-year-old Diks has struggled with in his head. What would his career have been like if he had stayed with the Fiorentina squad as a nineteen-year-old boy or taught himself the Italian style of play in Serie B? “I don’t know, but I do know that I played at both ‘my’ clubs in the Netherlands and I am happy with that. Vitesse is in my heart forever because of my time there and as a child I was for Feyenoord. How nice is it that I won the KNVB Cup with both clubs and also took the Supercup with Feyenoord in my season there? ” They are memories that no one takes away from him anymore, just as he always cherishes that he has been on the field with Robin van Persie. “A great footballer and a great man. If someone deserved that prize then it was he. ”
Diks in ecstasy after the cup final won in 2018 (3-0 against AZ).
Indeed, the 2018 cup final won was the last crown on the masterful career of the all-time top scorer of the Dutch national team, but it was also a huge mental boost for Diks. He still remembers yesterday how much criticism he received in his first months in De Kuip. “The fans were not satisfied after my bad start and the media also popped up. You try to let that slide away from you, but I also knew that I was not the Kevin of my first years at Vitesse. ” He indicates that the extra pressure from a top club bothered him and still knows exactly which moment hit him hardest. “When my good friend and colleague right back Bart Nieuwkoop and I were both sitting on the bench because Jeremiah St. Juste was preferred in my position as central defender. Against Vitesse, please. That was of course my old club, so I really wanted to show that I had more to offer than everyone thought. ”
However, things turned out differently that day for Diks, who was allowed to warm up with Nieuwkoop when St. Juste sustained an injury. “I immediately knew that the person who would fill in at that moment would be the basic player for a longer period of time. I felt that in everything. That’s why I was really fed up when Bart was chosen. He is still one of my best friends and I give him everything, but at that point I was completely devastated. After that I sat on the couch with a lump in my throat for at least ten minutes. Fack man …”. His surprise was all the greater when he got the chance in the match against Heracles Almelo from trainer Giovanni van Bronckhorst. “That was an all or nothing moment for me and I am extremely proud that I showed that I was worth playing for Feyenoord. I stayed there all season and was told that the club even inquired if there was no possibility of renting me from Fiorentina for another year. ”
However, the Italians wanted to see him at work in Florence again and Feyenoord eventually chose Cuco Martina, so that Diks threw himself into his own chance with his actual employer. “In the preparation it went very well, but in the first seven games I still got no further than warming up”, Diks recalls. “And that while everyone said that I was much further than in my first period at the club.” He himself still had the hope that a series of international matches with the Dutch Juniors would give him opportunities at Fiorentina, but then disaster struck with a serious knee injury. “I just stuck with that struggling. The doctors and I tried everything and nothing worked. I lost all muscle around it. I’ve always been a thin person, but I was strong. Now that also fell away, so it really didn’t look like it, ”said Diks, who always recovered for ninety percent and then relapsed.
In the end, he seemed fit enough in the winter of 2019 to show his qualities at Empoli, but that rental turn went into the water due to yet another setback. The worst part was that Diks still had no idea what exactly was wrong. “I just didn’t know. I kept thinking that I can only complete my career once, so I wanted to do everything possible. ” He decided to go to Belgium, where I heard many good stories about a specialist. “I paid all the costs myself. I didn’t care, because I am a professional footballer and not a money grabber. ” It turned out to be the best choice he could have made, because with a five-month recovery process, the doctors managed to get him pain-free. “They saved my career,” said Diks, who during that recovery period thought a lot about the continuation of his career.
“I had to be realistic, because without rhythm you will not make it in Serie A. And certainly not at the club where you did not start with full fitness”, it sounds self-conscious. He took himself to step back and then move forward two. The step back eventually went to Aarhuus, although according to Diks, that Danish team could hardly believe that it could hire a former Dutch youth international from the Serie A. “They showed that they wanted me very much and they thought about a process in which I could slowly grow back from an injured boy to a professional football player. First a few minutes, then a little longer and at the end of the season I played entire matches ”, said the right back, who happily agreed last summer to stay in Denmark for another year. “I had more options, but I really like it here. I know everyone and can finally do what I like best again. Nice football. I am so happy that I can finally say that I have things back on track. ”
In the current year, he is at sixteen league matches, with which his career total has already risen above 150 official matches. “So now I have quite a lot of experience in three different countries,” he concludes optimistically. He calculates that he can play six more matches in Danish service and then prepare himself ‘fitter than ever’ for the next step in his career. “The years at Aarhuus have really done me good. It will surprise everyone how the level is here. I think a lot of people underestimate it, but certainly the top six here play nice football. At the start of the season, we were unfortunately eliminated in the second heat of the Europa League. Otherwise we would have liked PSV and I am sure we could have made it difficult for them. It is no coincidence that clubs like Ajax, FC Groningen and sc Heerenveen scout a lot here. ”
In the remaining six games, Diks hopes to rise one more place with his team. Aarhuus is now fourth, which at the end of the stage entitles him to a ticket for the preliminary round of the Conference League. Place 3 would give his team access to the front portal of the Europa League. “We are now three points behind and I would love to give something back to the team. Aarhuus came at the perfect time for me and put me back on the map, ”said the right back, who does not yet know what he will be doing next season. “I am now close to where I want to be, so we’ll see. I still have a contract with Fiorentina for a year, so I’m basically going back there. I do not expect that I will suddenly be the first choice, but I do want to fight for my chance ”, it sounds combative. “Fiorentina is still the club that once gave me the confidence and a new contract when I was badly injured, so I would like to repay that trust. Sometimes I feel older because I have been around for so long, but I am still only 24 years old. I am sure that there are still great things to happen for me. ”