Wants to finish the season in Genk
©IMAGO
Matte Smets (22) from KRC Genk wants to go to a top league. The opportunity arose in the winter with a possible move to VfL Wolfsburg, but a transfer did not materialize. Now the Belgian central defender explained why not. He also indicated that the move to the Bundesliga could possibly be made soon, although not necessarily to the Wolves.
“Of course I thought about it carefully,” said Smets in a “Nieuwsblad” interview about the chance to move to Wolfsburg in the winter. “It wasn’t that I wanted to rule everything out from the start. And the fact that a club like Wolfsburg is interested in me is only positive. But it was just the wrong timing.”
Last Sunday, one day before the transfer deadline, VfL made an offer for Smets, as the player confirmed. According to reports, this involved an amount of 16 million euros for the junior national player, whose market value had recently fallen to 11 million euros. The offer for the player was then increased again. His contract in Genk is valid until 2028. Smets revealed that he discussed the possibility of a move to Wolves with his agent and club official Dimitri De Condé. “Together we have come to the conclusion that it is not the right time to leave – not for me and not for the club.”
Smets about Wolfsburg: “If that had happened in the summer …”
Smets wants to develop further in Genk, but is still looking forward to a transfer to a top league soon. But he wanted to finish the season with the KRC. “If that had happened in the summer,” said Smets about the offer, “it would have been a serious option.” He still has the ambition to play at the highest possible level. “If a foreign team from a top league comes knocking in the summer, I’m definitely open.”
Smets said that several other Bundesliga clubs had also contacted him. “So this could be a league that fits my profile well,” he said of the German upper house and stated: “We’ll see what happens in the summer.”
