Jesper Fredberg faced criticism at Anderlecht following a summer transfer window that failed to meet expectations. The methods employed by the Dane became increasingly divisive within the club.
As the weeks progressed, the target of disappointment among Anderlecht fans shifted. Coach Brian Riemer, who was loudly called to resign by the Lotto Park crowd after each poor performance, was no longer the sole figure under scrutiny. His compatriot and superior, Jesper Fredberg, was also feeling the backlash from his ambitious statements made at the end of the previous season, which concluded with the team in a disappointing third place. “I want to be aggressive in the transfer market,” declared the Sports CEO of the purple club. A year later, this lion’s roar appears to have resulted in nothing more than an innocent kitten’s meow. By the end of October, shortly after the dismissal of ‘his’ coach Brian Riemer, Fredberg’s reign as sporting director was in jeopardy.
Of course, there was the return of Leander Dendoncker, on loan with an option to buy that seems far beyond the club’s financial capabilities. However, on this deal, it was president Wouter Vandenhaute who took charge, risking the economic balance of a club that desperately needed qualification for the lucrative Champions League to maintain the financial momentum initiated by last summer’s blockbuster transfer market, which saw the arrivals of big names such as Kasper Dolberg and Thorgan Hazard. Vandenhaute’s media savvy had already been demonstrated when he orchestrated Jan Vertonghen’s return to Belgium in early September 2022.
At the time of the veteran Red Devil’s return, Jesper Fredberg was not yet aboard the purple ship. His name had already reached Vandenhaute as he was part of a shortlist of potential sporting directors compiled by Peter Verbeke to assist him in the heavy restructuring of Anderlecht. While traveling to West Ham for a European fixture, which already felt like the end of an era for Felice Mazzù, later deemed a “miscasting” by the club leadership, Verbeke and Vandenhaute met the Dane in London. Impressed by his work at Viborg, they quickly decided to make him their number one candidate for the sporting director position. Vandenhaute, particularly charmed by Fredberg, wasted no time in appointing him CEO Sports during Peter Verbeke’s burnout period, who was sidelined upon his return but later given a significant role within the club’s academy.
With full freedom, Jesper Fredberg marked a strategic shift from the outset of his first transfer window. He made a significant move by signing Anders Dreyer for over four million euros, making his compatriot the most expensive transfer in the club’s history since Vincent Kompany’s grand return in 2019. The deal was considered “bargain” given the Dane’s valuation was double what the Brussels club paid. A special but highly confidential clause allowed him to leave FC Midtjylland for 4.25 million euros. Few were aware of this, but Jesper Fredberg was. The transfer, like Dreyer’s early season performances—including a stunning goal against Spanish side Villarreal that helped secure qualification for the Conference League quarter-finals—established the CEO Sports’s reputation as a knowledgeable figure in the market and further fueled Vandenhaute’s admiration for his new protégé.
The European adventure overshadowed the disastrous end to the league campaign, as well as the failed transfer of Tolu Arokodare. By January 2023, the tall Nigerian was Anderlecht’s primary target to don the purple goalscoring attire, following a tip from agent Didier Frenay who suggested his name to Fredberg. A few days later, it emerged that the Brussels club attempted to bypass the agent to secure a deal with Tolu. Ultimately, Frenay guided him to Genk, leading Anderlecht to hastily pivot towards Islam Slimani. The Algerian’s brief tenure was a success, but it seemed more of a lucky stroke than a well-calculated move by the Lotto Park CEO Sports.
Despite Frenay’s tumultuous history—his involvement in Landry Dimata’s transfer to Anderlecht leading to a judicial inquiry—served as an excuse for the club, introducing external agents into negotiations appeared to be becoming a habit for Jesper Fredberg. It is rumored that Fredberg’s trusted man is Thomas Delaney’s representative, named Walid Bouzid. Previously an agent for Nacer Chadli, Bouzid was brought into negotiations between Anderlecht and Ludogorets for the Brazilian striker Igor Thiago during the summer of 2023. This unexpected intermediary irritated the Bulgarian club, which ultimately preferred to negotiate with Club Brugge. After a year in the North Venice, the Brazilian earned the Blauw en Zwart over 30 million euros from his move to Brentford. While the club denies Bouzid’s systematic involvement in the transfers led by Fredberg, he is connected as an agent in a good number of the deals completed by the Mauves.
If this issue passed into the background, it’s because Anderlecht’s summer transfer window of 2023 was grandiose. Aware of Brian Riemer’s tactical limitations, the recruitment team encouraged Jesper Fredberg to shape his transfer strategy around key players who could guide the team on the pitch. The initial defeat against Union at the start of the 2023-2024 season convinced the CEO Sports to take action. Thus, big Danish names arrived—though critics label Denmark as the only place where Fredberg is familiar with the players—along with a tried and tested Belgian league player like Mats Rits, a three-time Belgian champion with Brugge. To convince the thirty-something, who was no longer a starter with the Blauw en Zwart, a considerable salary and a three-year contract had to be offered, which could become a long-term burden. Already, a year later, Dendoncker’s loan seemed destined to push Rits out of the Brussels starting eleven.
If Dendoncker may, in the short term, represent better media value than sporting (he has not even completed 20 matches in the last two seasons), he remains the most successful coup in a purple transfer window from which supporters expected much more. While the Belgian midfielder was the prize desired by Wouter Vandenhaute, Jesper Fredberg had long been hunting for a much more substantial prey: his compatriot Christian Eriksen, who had collaborated with Brian Riemer at Brentford and was used sparingly at Manchester United where he commands an untouchable salary of nine million euros per year. Much too rich for Anderlecht, yet not enough to thwart Fredberg’s hopes who spent a good part of his summer in Denmark, partially experiencing the transfer window while working remotely and only appearing in the Belgian capital for signings and photos. In the Neerpede offices, where the Brussels Sporting is based, his frequent absences became a topic of humor among the staff. However, this did nothing to detract from the confidence Wouter Vandenhaute placed in him—he was the architect of Fredberg’s lucrative contract nearing one million euros per year. Rumors in Brussels suggest that family issues may have been the reason behind these frequent absences, claiming that remote work is no longer a hindrance in today’s football.
Clearly fixated on Eriksen, Jesper Fredberg seems to have lost track of other transfer matters. Presentations of the club’s playing project to potential recruits and their entourages were often minimalistic, falling short of the standards that top-tier clubs offer to convince their targets to bolster their ranks. At times, the CEO Sports appeared to have forgotten the identity of the player for whom he was asked to initiate contact with a club. Only when the transfer of Christian Eriksen proved impossible did Anderlecht accelerate their search for an offensive option, seeking an alternative to Francis Amuzu to play on the left flank in Thorgan Hazard’s absence, who is expected to be sidelined until early 2025. Names like Robert Skov emerged, sourced through agent Walid Bouzid. The promising Samuel Edozie, trained at Manchester City and now with promoted Southampton in the Premier League, was ultimately the only offensive signing from a summer of very little movement.
Behind the scenes, it is said that there had long been uncertainty surrounding the true financial resources allocated to Jesper Fredberg to fine-tune his summer transfer strategy. The Anderlecht board had already been very generous with capital increases in recent years, and this time they reportedly hesitated to release funds once more to dramatically strengthen the team. Was this a tactic to preserve Fredberg’s reputation by shifting responsibilities toward a shortage of resources? Internally, the methods employed by the Dane were increasingly divisive. They ultimately led to his exit. Now, it is Olivier Renard’s turn to don the perilous mantle of sporting director for Wouter Vandenhaute’s Anderlecht, who remains firmly at the helm regarding strategic decisions.
