Who is Kees Smit? AZ Alkmaar wonderkid labelled as Kevin De Bruyne regen

Smit is currently a squad member of Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.

With the production of football greats like Marco van Basten, Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Dennis Bergkamp, and Arjen Robben, the Netherlands has sometimes been referred to as “the world’s biggest football talent factory.”

Although it’s safe to say that the Dutch national team have been devoid of game-changing players of the same calibre in recent years, these players were the epitome of the “total football” model, which was created to maximise creativity, skill, and versatility.

Mundo Deportivo claim that could soon change, though. According to the Spanish publication, Kees Smit, a 19-year-old who has become an instant phenomenon at AZ Alkmaar, is the upcoming “total footballer” to emerge from the Netherlands.

In the last few weeks, Smit has been pursued by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich. AZ will have a difficult time holding onto the teenager past the 2025 summer transfer window.

Given how much Smit has improved in such a short period of time, Voetbal International has even asserted that Ronald Koeman is thinking about selecting him for the Netherlands’ senior team later this year.

How did it all begin for Smit?

On January 21, 2006, Smit was born in Heiloo, a municipality in the Netherlands’ North Holland Province. Supported by his parents, Smit was exposed to Dutch football culture at an early age and made his official debut with the local team, De Foresters.

Three years later, Smit was snatched by AZ, who immediately selected him for their Under-12 squad. As he progressed through AZ’s academy and finally inherited the captain’s armband, he demonstrated remarkable leadership abilities and a maturity that belied his young age.

Bayern were interested in Smit because of his quick development and attempted to persuade him to join their youth team, but in January 2021, the midfielder agreed to a professional deal with AZ.

The #U19EURO Player of the Tournament, Kees Smit! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/mQ68WXdZI7

— UEFA Men's Youth (@UEFAMensYouth) June 26, 2025

A big break in his career

Smit was forced to wait for his senior AZ debut despite his success in the Youth League. He developed further in the reserve team during the 2023–24 season before making his Eredivisie debut in March 2024 at the age of 18 and 48 days, entering as a late substitute in a 4-0 victory over Excelsior.

After replacing Pascal Jensen as the manager of AZ at the beginning of 2024, Maarten Martens offered Smit that chance. Martens then started using Smit more often last season, with his major breakthrough coming in a UEFA Europa League group-stage match against Fenerbahce.

”Smit did his best to remain modest, though.” Coach Martens said with a smile after the semi-finals. “It’s taking some getting used to, all this attention. You wouldn’t know it from how the Dutch ace is performing. It’s still very early in his career, but Smit looks like he was made for the big occasion.”

His biggest strengths and areas for improvement

“I think he’s special,” former AZ winger Kenneth Perez told ESPN after watching Smit in AZ’s KNVB Cup semi-final win against Heracles.

“He has very strong legs. He dares to ask for the ball every time and generally does good things every time. Sometimes you can’t quite explain it, but you can tell it’s not a coincidence.

“There’s a thought behind every single move. Not everything works out, far from it, but when you see him… This is just different, I think.”

Smit! Did you see that?!Start your Friday right by watching 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 Kees Smit screamer 🚀🚀🚀#UYL // @AZ // @AZJeugd pic.twitter.com/mb7xt4pBbz

— UEFA Men's Youth (@UEFAMensYouth) March 10, 2023

Smit is still very much a raw talent at this stage, which he acknowledges, but his appetite to improve is insatiable.

“I need to take control of the game more. Be dominant and brazen. Just don’t give a damn. I always had that in my youth, and I need to show it at this level now,” Smit said to Voetbal International in May.

“Next season, I want to play every game. I want to show more than I’ve done so far. This season was just to get into the swing of things. Next season, I want to show who Kees Smit really is.”

Is he the next Kevin De Bruyne?

Smit resembles De Bruyne, who dominated the Belgian Pro League with Genk, in both appearance and performance. He is already a skilled ball carrier who continuously scans the field and performs well under duress.

Since the fundamental skill set is already in place, Smit’s ultimate goal should be to develop into the more refined, lethal version of De Bruyne that Manchester City relied on for years as their key creator.

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