Thursday, September 18, 2025 – 5:30 PM I by Redactie
The youth academy of Anderlecht, Neerpede, still is one of the best known in Europe. Purple-white has delivered a series of midfielders and flank players in recent years, but strikingly enough fewer profiles are central to the axis. In the meantime, the lack of strikers and central defenders are concerned about the club management.
In the past seasons, especially creative midfielders and flank attackers were able to flow through. But for real deep strikers and central defenders it has remained silent. Only Zeno Debast broke through as the central defender, while Romelu Lukaku is the last full-fledged Neerpede striker who was able to settle in the main force.
Lucas Stassin just seemed to be able to fill that gap, but hardly had any opportunities in the A-core. As a result, he disappeared from view, and Anderlecht remains with a void in the most crucial positions.
Intervene at Neerpede
According to The last hour the club management has analyzed the situation and decided to intervene. Scouts and youth trainers will focus stronger on the early detection of talents in the axis of the field. The plan is to guide strikers and defenders more intensively at a young age, so that they can later switch to the first team.
However, it remains a difficult task for scouting: central positions are scarce and difficult to estimate with young players. Nevertheless, Anderlecht are convinced that this is necessary to restore the balance in the youth academy.
Lukaku’s involvement
Romelu Lukaku, who was spotted in Lotto Park at Anderlecht – Genk last week, was already concerned with Neerpede in the past. If he ever returned effectively to the club, he said that he also wants to deal with youth work. His own process – as the last striker that broke through from Neerpede – is a painful memory for the club that there have been no successors since then.
Yet there is hope. The 17-year-old Terry van de Ven recently extended his contract and is considered one of the few young strikers with potential. With Purple & White they hope that he can play a role in the coming years and can partly solve the striking problem.
