Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois were once inseparable. Today, despite representing Belgium together, reports suggest they still aren’t close.
Their fallout wasn’t caused by football.
It was personal.
Back in 2014, Kevin De Bruyne was in a long-term relationship with Caroline Lijnen. They had been together for several years and were regarded as one of football’s promising young couples.
At the same time, De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois were close friends. Both had left Belgium at a young age to pursue their careers abroad and shared a strong bond.
De Bruyne was rebuilding his career at VfL Wolfsburg after a difficult spell at Chelsea, while Courtois was enjoying an outstanding season on loan at Atlético Madrid, establishing himself as one of Europe’s best goalkeepers.
According to accounts later made public, Caroline visited Madrid while De Bruyne was in Germany. De Bruyne said he had no reason to suspect anything and trusted both his girlfriend and his friend.
After the visit, their relationship came to an end.
In his autobiography, Keep It Simple, De Bruyne wrote that he discovered Caroline had been involved with Courtois during that period. He described it as one of the most painful experiences of his life, saying he lost not only his relationship but also one of his closest friends.
Caroline later gave her own version of events. She said her relationship with De Bruyne had already been struggling and claimed that her connection with Courtois developed during that difficult period. She also made the widely quoted remark:
“Thibaut offered me in one evening what Kevin couldn’t give me in three years.”
More than a decade later, the friendship between De Bruyne and Courtois has never fully recovered. Although they have continued to represent Belgium, reports have repeatedly suggested that they are no longer close.
Time has moved on for both men.
Today, Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois are both married with children and have built separate lives.
Ironically, neither of them ended up marrying Caroline Lijnen.