Anderlecht is known for training very promising young people. This was the case for Dries Mertens, except that the player will ultimately…never play professionally for the Mauves.
Indeed, in the columns of Newspaperthe former recruiter Eddy Vandaele explained how RSC Anderlecht ‘failed’ Dries Mertens.
Vandaele, who was a recruiter at Anderlecht for 29 years, explains that Mertens had to leave the RSCA at a very young age. “Dries Mertens had to leave at the age of 14, because some people at the club – I won’t mention names – thought he was too small.”
“We managed to keep him until he was 16, but he finally left for Aalst,” continued Vandaele, who then played for KV Kortrijk.
Mertens then impressed with Nacer Chadli at AGOVV – located in Apeldoorn -, and Anderlecht had the opportunity to repatriate him…for 700,000 euros.
However, the Brussels club had decided not to bring back Mertens, who would then have the very good career that we know him to be. “But Anderlecht didn’t want him. So I recommended him to my recruiting friends in Utrecht, who were very grateful to me,” Vandaele continues.
