INTERVIEWS How would things go with Aristote Nkaka? A journalist from Het Nieuwsblad recently ran into him by chance at the gates of Neerpede and talked to him. “I asked Gillet if I could train with him and the Futures and I am very grateful that he said yes.”
“The phantom or ghost of Neerpede”, is how Nkaka describes himself. The midfielder came in 2018 in the wake of Marc Coucke and Luc Devroe from Ostend to Anderlecht. KVO first hired him for half a season. When he really came to Anderlecht in July, however, he was immediately persona non grata. “Was I immediately burned because I was a Devroe transfer? I don’t know. I was never given an explanation,” he says. “I don’t make any problems and do what the club asks me to do.”
In the years that followed, Nkaka trained individually or was loaned out to Almeria, Santander, Paderborn and Beveren. Not a single loan was a success. Last summer, Anderlecht wanted to terminate Nkaka’s contract, but they failed to reach an agreement. He admits that the nice salary played a role in this, but that he mainly wanted to wait until he had found a new team. “But that didn’t happen.”
In the meantime, Nkaka reported every day in Neerpede to train. First individually with physical coach Hubert Lemaire. When Guillaume Gillet became coach of the Futures, Nkaka asked him if he could join the training. To his gratitude, Gillet agreed. “Thanks to him I am fit and I feel like a professional footballer again,” said Nkaka. “It also clicks well with the young guys.”
Nkaka’s contract with Anderlecht expires at the end of this season. Then he is a free player and he can look for a new club. The still only 26-year-old midfielder realizes that few clubs are waiting for him in 1A. He especially hopes to be able to go somewhere where the coach believes in him. “I want to find my smile and joy again,” he says. “Because I lost that here. Although I did gain maturity.”
Source: Het Nieuwsblad (Jürgen Geril)
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