JPL Winter Transfers: Hong, Bozhinov & Cercle Brugge Deals

Antwerp sees one of its regulars in defense leave. The Bulgarian Rosen Bozhinov moves to Pisa, a team from the Italian first division.

The 20-year-old Boszinov played for a year and a half in Antwerp employment. He has already started 12 times this season for the Great Old, but now he is leaving the Jupiler Pro League.

AA Gent welcomes Hyun-seok Hong (briefly) again. In August 2024, the South Korean closed the door to Ghent for an adventure in the Bundesliga. He played 23 matches at Mainz, but the attacking midfielder did not score.

A loan deal to Nantes, France, where he played only 6 times in Ligue 1, was also not a success before New Year. So he now gets a new chance at AA Gent, which also rents the South Korean from Mainz.

“I am very happy to be back in Ghent. I experienced many wonderful moments at this club and I hope to be able to relive them here,” says Hong.

After 2.5 years in West Flemish employment, Alan Minda moves to the Brazilian first division club Atlético Mineiro. The agreement would involve (at least) around 7 million euros.

Minda arrived at Cercle Brugge in the summer of 2023, where he just missed the mark of 100 matches. In 99 matches, the winger scored 14 times and provided 16 assists. This season he had already faded into the background in recent weeks at a wandering Cercle.

After incoming, there is also outgoing transfer activity at Westerlo. Tuur Rommens (22) makes a nice transfer to Rangers. He signs a contract for 3.5 seasons with the Scottish top club. Westerlo would reportedly receive around 3.5 million euros for the left back.

Westerlo has strengthened itself with winger Shunsuke Saito. The 20-year-old Japanese youth international comes from PhD candidate Mito Hollyhock and signed a contract for 3.5 seasons, the club announced on Wednesday.

Barely two hours after the transfer of Massiré Sylla, Union has again proposed a winter purchase with Besfort Zeneli.

Zeneli is a 23-year-old central midfielder. He played his entire career for IF Elfsborg and thus followed the path of his brother Arbër, ex-player of Heerenveen and Reims.

While his brother plays for the Kosovo national team, Besfort Zeneli has been part of the Swedish selection since last year, for which he has already collected 5 caps.

Union would reportedly pay an amount of 5.5 million euros for the midfielder. After Sylla and Mateo Bondic, he is the third winter purchase.

Union has strengthened itself with the 21-year-old Senegalese Massiré Sylla. The defender comes from the Norwegian club Lyn 1896 FK and signed a contract until June 2030.

Sylla was named Promise of the Year in the Norwegian second division last season, where he recorded one goal and three assists in 33 games.

After Mateo Biondic, Sylla is the competition leader’s second winter signing.

Union travels to Dender on Wednesday for the quarter-finals of the Belgian Cup and receives KV Mechelen in the Jupiler Pro League on Saturday.

Zulte Waregem has acquired its first winter acquisition: midfielder Tristan Panduro. He moves from Copenhagen and signs a contract for 2.5 seasons on his 18th birthday, with an option for two more seasons. Panduro went through his youth training at Odense BK and since 2022 at FC Copenhagen, the current Danish champion. He has not yet played for the first team there, but he was a regular with the U19. He also played with it in the Youth League.

After more than 100 games for KAA Gent, Omri Gandelman (25) leaves for the Italian league. The midfielder will play football in the Serie A for US Lecce.

Gandelman came to Ghent in the summer of 2023, which took him away from Maccabi Netanya in his home country Israel. In 107 official matches, the midfielder scored 33 times and provided 14 assists. He was also often a regular this season.

“KAA Gent would like to thank Omri for his efforts, his professionalism and the beautiful moments in blue and white,” the club said.

Patrik Hrosovsky is closing the door at KRC Genk after about 5.5 years. The Slovakian midfielder returns to the Czech top club Viktoria Plzen, where he previously played for 8 seasons.

The 33-year-old Hrosovsky settled in Genk in 2019 and played 261 games for the club. He scored 21 times and provided the same number of assists.

“With his experience, commitment and professionalism, he also played an important role in the dressing room,” KRC Genk says goodbye to the Slovak international on its website, who himself pushed for a departure.

“In recent months, Patrik has clearly indicated that he would like to return to Viktoria Plzen, in his wife’s hometown. After constructive consultation between all parties involved, a solution has now been found that is right for the player and club.”

“KRC Genk would like to sincerely thank Patrik Hrosovsky for his years of dedication, loyalty and commitment to the club and wish him every success in the further course of his career.”

Hroskovsky said goodbye to his Genk teammates on Thursday during their winter internship in Marbella. The Slovak can stay in Spain for a while, because his new employer Plzen is on an internship in Benidorm.

KAA Gent has found a solution for attacker Dante Vanzeir, who did not fit into coach Rik De Mil’s plans. The 27-year-old striker is loaned to Cercle Brugge until the end of the season, which also received a purchase option.

Vanzeir broke through in the Jupiler Pro League with Union, where he scored 48 goals and 21 assists in 91 matches. After an adventure in the MLS with the New York Red Bulls, the attacker returned to Belgium with KAA Gent. This season he played in just 6 matches.

He hopes to get more playing minutes at Cercle. “I am very happy that I can join Cercle,” he says. “The ambition within the Association immediately appealed to me. I have already watched several of the team’s matches and I was honestly surprised that we are currently penultimate. I not only want to help the team with goals and assists, but also with my experience.”

Luca Oyen closes the Genk door behind him. The 23-year-old youth product played a total of 83 games for the Genk first team, where serious injuries slowed down his progress. He only played for Jong Genk this season. Now Oyen is looking for a change of scenery in the Netherlands. He moves to Heerenveen, number 9 in the Eredivisie. He signs a contract for 3.5 seasons.

Six months before the end of his contract, Sofiane Boufal is already a free player. The 32-year-old Moroccan has played for Union since last season, but was never able to fully develop. In total he played 40 games in the Union shirt. In December he was no longer in David Hubert’s selection for personal reasons. It was now decided by mutual agreement to terminate Boufal’s contract.

Anderlecht rents Cedric Hatenboer to Telstar for the rest of the season. The number 15 from the Eredivisie was also able to enforce a purchase option.

The 20-year-old Dutch midfielder signed with Anderlecht last winter until 2029, but was immediately loaned to Excelsior. Last summer he returned to Anderlecht, but he was never able to fight his way into the main squad.

He also only played a handful of matches at the RSCA Futures, which compete in the Challenger Pro League. At Telstar, Hatenboer hopes to regain rhythm and confidence.