Nacer Chadli was the guest of La Tribune this Monday, and he took the opportunity to remind us that he was not yet retired. He is not the only well-known name in our football still looking for one last (?) challenge!
Laurent Depoitre
It was one of the (many, to be honest) anomalies of this Hall of Fame gala: among the nominees, who theoretically should no longer be active, was a player… who was not yet officially retired .
Laurent Depoitre saw his contract expire at the end of last season at La Gantoise, but he has not yet given up on the idea of one last challenge. At 35, time is running out because last August, he admitted to having difficulty finding a challenge that interested him. The man with the perfect ratio in selection (one cap, one goal) could soon formalize the end of his career, barring a final amateur challenge…
Radja Nainggolan
Radja Nainggolan hoped for a romantic end to his career: in his parents’ country, Indonesia, where he had become a real local star. But here he is without a club at the age of 36, and determined not to stop there: in an interview with La Derniere Heure last month, he said he was looking for one last challenge.
Problem: Nainggolan remains at the end of a somewhat complicated adventure in Belgium, near Antwerp, and the risks linked to his particular character coupled with his salary of 400,000 euros per year probably rule out potentially interested clubs. We have no doubt, however, that he will eventually find the right fit.
Laurens De Bock
It’s gone a little unnoticed, but another Red Devil is currently without a club. More precisely, a player selected with the Devils but who never had the opportunity to make his debut for the national team: Laurens De Bock. At only 31 years old, the former regular starter for FC Bruges (177 matches all the same!) is now without a club.
De Bock has spent the last two years at Atromitos in Greece, after a good spell at Zulte Waregem. This summer, he was very close to a return to the Pro League, this time in D1B, but he ultimately did not sign for Deinze where he was cited. Given his age and his record of service, he will find a club quite easily.
Zakaria Bakkali
And here is the fourth Devil on this list not to have a club: the rebirth of Zakaria Bakkali in the Netherlands was just a flash in the pan. After a promising 2022-2023 season (3 goals in 18 games), the former Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven winger did not confirm last season and was therefore released at the end of his contract.
Without a club since last summer, one wonders what form Bakkali is in, who has seemed completely out of action since his failed stint at Anderlecht. At only 28 years old, the years when he was considered the future of Belgian football seem far behind him…
Charly Musonda
He too, from the same generation, was to be the future of Belgian football. He will not even have obtained a selection, and we can now say with certainty that he will never experience one. Charly Musonda refused a return to Belgium, which he deemed below his level, in 2022 after training with Zulte Waregem.
His time at UD Levante at times suggested that he was going to become a footballer again; In the end it wouldn’t be the case. Musonda joined Anorthosis Famagusta where he was ultimately seen as an incredible waste of time and money. He has now been free since last September, and we don’t see who could still give him a chance.
Alexandre De Bruyn
What a strange journey that ofAlexandre De Bruyn ! Trained at Neerpede, he took time to blossom within our football, but will eventually break through first at Lommel then at STVV where he will even break through in D1A. An excellent season with the Canaries (36 matches, 4 goals, 4 assists) earned him a prestigious transfer to La Gantoise.
He will only play 5 games with the Buffalos, and will have to go down a notch, first to Kortrijk, then to Dender. His last stint at Lierse was not crowned with success either, even if he showed some flashes at times. Not enough to extend it last summer, and De Bruyn has therefore been free since…
Ismail Azzaoui
In the category of “great lost talents”, Ismail Azzaoui could compete with Bakkali and Musonda. Trained at Tottenham, this creative attacking midfielder was, like Musonda, struck by injuries during his career. Azzaoui made the Crusaders on several occasions, including twice at Wolfsburg when he was still very young.
While he was regaining color at Heracles Almelo, Azzaoui was seriously injured again in 2021, and this seems to have sounded the death knell for his very high-level ambitions. At only 26 years old, he remains for a full season (30 matches) in… Azerbaijani D1, and has been free since the end of his contract. Will a Belgian club try it?
Jonathan Yesterday
Jonathan Heris will have launched his career far from Belgium: it is in Hungary, in Ujpest, that he will have spent 6 years before finally returning to AS Eupen in 2020. A return a bit through the back door, but Heris will provide proud services to the Pandas, before signing for RWDM in 2022.
There too, he will be quite important, playing 41 matches and participating in a mixed season but full of good moments in D1A for the Molenbeekois. Since the descent last summer, he has not found a club; at 34, he has not yet openly discussed his future.
They are also free:
Aristote Nkaka, Robbe Decostere, Anthony D’Alberto, Sébastien Bruzzese, Héritier Deyonge…
