Do you know Kevin Franck? However, this former youngster from Ghent wore the jersey… of Real Madrid.
When we want to talk about the Belgian players of Real Madrid, two names immediately come to mind, of course: Thibaut Courtois, the current number 1 of the Merengue, and Eden Hazard, who arrived there surrounded by great expectations unfortunately disappointed.
Then, perhaps, we will think of Juan Lozano, who played for Real Madrid and who could have been naturalized Belgian in 1982 to participate in the World Cup. Those with a good memory will also cite Alex Craninx, Belgian-Spanish goalkeeper trained at Real, Belgian international in youth teams and recently passed through Seraing.
But the name of Kevin Franck will almost never come up in conversations. However, Franck, trained at La Gantoise, signed at the White House in 2000. The Newspaper found his trace. “At the time, money played no role, I signed for the institution, to be able to tell people that I played for Real,” he says.
But Kevin Franck, midfielder, will never play for Real Madrid. Arriving at 17, he left the club a year later. “I didn’t really have my place there, and I didn’t even have any playing time in the reserve team,” admits the man who would later play for Dender, winning promotion to D1A. Kevin Franck will never play in the Belgian elite, accumulating 59 D1B matches.
However, there remain memories to cherish: “I had the privilege of playing with guys like Hierro, Morientes, Roberto Carlos or Guti, the most technical of all,” remembers Franck. Now aged 42, he ended his career in 2020.
