Similar questions about Kuyt’s qualities were raised when he joined Liverpool for in the region of $25m (£10m) last summer.

Kuyt had known that Benitez was interested in him the previous summer, but Liverpool had been unable to agree a fee with Feyenoord. “It was a difficult period for me as I had to start again in the Dutch league,” he admits. But at an international get-together soon after, Holland coach Marco van Basten took Kuyt to one side and said: “Relax. If Liverpool really want you, they will come back.” In August, when Kuyt was with the Dutch squad for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland, Liverpool did come back.

He received well-meaning advice, telling him to stay in Rotterdam and help his father Gerrit, who had been diagnosed with throat cancer. “He was seriously ill last year, and that was the period when I decided that I wanted to go to Liverpool,” Kuyt says. “I couldn’t do much to help him during his treatment and I knew how much he wanted to see me play for the team that we used to watch on TV at home.”

A frail Gerrit needed breathing apparatus when he gave Kuyt his Dutch Footballer of the Year trophy at an emotional ceremony in Hilversum in August. Three days later, he had an operation to remove his tumour. “Since then, the cancer has gone,” says Kuyt. “The doctors said it might be too malignant to heal so this seems to be a real miracle. He has to go to hospital every two months for check-ups, but it’s a big relief to us all.”

Gerrit watched his son for the first time at Anfield in the 3-1 win over Aston Villa in October. Kuyt scored Liverpool’s opener, and Gerrit will have seen the banner at the Kop End, reading ‘The Dutch Master’, in honour of his son.

England was always Kuyt’s likeliest destination, even though his early heroes were Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit, then starring for Milan. Kuyt may have gone to sleep under a Van Basten duvet cover, but even then he was drawn to the English game. “The teams in southern Europe were popular when I grew up because of the Dutchmen at Milan and Barcelona,” he says. “But the mentality, the atmosphere and the way people live their football in England was unique and as I grew up, I felt that would suit me the best.”

Liverpool’s community spirit reminds Kuyt of his home town: they both have their own dialect and, although Kuyt’s English is excellent, he admits he is baffled when Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler exchange Scouse banter. “It’s tough to understand them, but I like it when a city has its own dialect because the village I come from is the same.”

His compatriot Bolo Zenden was on hand with advice when he first moved, as was his neighbour and unlikely pal Craig Bellamy. “I really clicked with Craig and we used to drive into training together, but he has moved so I drive in on my own now.”

Kuyt has quickly grasped the importance of the city’s bond with the club. When he walked round an empty Anfield with his father, they both got goose-bumps down their neck. The Hillsborough tragedy, he thinks, has also brought the community closer. “Everyone needed to support everyone else during that sad time and it has made the players close to the city,” he says. “The club is big, but it’s also a big family. I feel at home here.”

Which may explain why Kuyt’s first five goals all came at Anfield. But it’s on the road where Liverpool fans really need to see his goal celebration – in which he kisses his wedding ring twice, in honour of his wife Gertrude and baby daughter Noelle – with five defeats in their first six away games all but putting Benitez’s men out of the title race.


“It’s going to be difficult,” Kuyt admits, “because we are way behind, but on the other hand, the Premier League is so tough that perhaps we can make a comeback.”

Kuyt is optimistic about improvements in his own game too. “I think I’m better than I was when I was at Feyenoord because of the level of my team-mates and of the competition here. In Holland there were teams that came to Feyenoord just to lose by a small margin but in England everyone goes out to win. Because of that, you need to be at your best.”

Not having the heavy burden of captaincy has also helped Kuyt in his pursuit of excellence. “I was the leader of the group at Feyenoord and because a lot of things went wrong on the pitch, I had to work, or at least felt obliged to work, extra hard to correct any mistakes. But at Liverpool you have so much quality with the players behind you that I can play and concentrate on my own game and that makes me better.”



With a decent supply line behind him – at home, at least – Kuyt has quickly established himself as Liverpool’s first-choice striker and it is a four-way battle between Bellamy, Crouch, Fowler and Garcia to play alongside him.

“I was not afraid of the challenge,” he says, “but I knew that the tough competition for places would make me stronger. Now I feel that I will always play when I’m fit.”

If that continues, few would bet against Kuyt producing another ‘20-20’ season. But despite now plying his trade for a genuine European giant, Kuyt will never forget his roots. He still returns to Katwijk whenever he can and is always a welcome spectator at Quick Boys, who netted a more than useful £300,000 from his move to Liverpool. His contract at Anfield runs for another four years, by which time he’ll be 30 – too soon, perhaps for him to return to where it all began. But he already has one eye on home.

“I only started one game in the senior team for Quick Boys and I didn’t score for them, so I’m still waiting to break my duck for the local side,” he grins. “I want to go back to playing for them when I stop as a professional, so maybe one day I will score for them.”

For now though, he’s busy enough with the responsibility of scoring the goals that Liverpool fans hope will bring the title back to Anfield for the first time since 1990.