Arthur Vermeeren has won Belgium’s Young Player of the Year award amid interest from Premier League giants Manchester United in the Royal Antwerp wonderkid.
By Arthur Vermeeren’s own admission, hogging the limelight is not really for him.
Speaking after picking up the Jupiler League’s Young Player of the Year gong with a landslide result, the teenage midfielder admitted that he was a little nervous to give his acceptance speech while picking up the award in front of hundreds of admiring onlookers.
Make no mistake, however, Vermeeren is not the sort of player to hide from the spotlight on the pitch, catching the eye of Manchester United, Barcelona and more after inspiring Royal Antwerp to their first league title since the 1950s during a dazzling breakthrough season in senior football.
Manchester United like Arthur Vermeeren
“What could have happened in the past year, has happened. Later, I will be able to look back on this with pride,” Vermeeren, who finished 554 points clear of second place in the YPOTY voting, tells Gazet van Antwerpen.
The 18-year-old playmaker, woh has already won two senior caps for the Belgian national team and scored in the Champions League against Barcelona in December, joins Vincent Kompany, Youri Tielemans and Leon Bailey after being crowned the best young player in the country. But will he follow in their footsteps in the Premier League too?
According to the Daily Mail, Manchester United are keeping a close eye on one of Europe’s finest young midfielders. Veermeeren is reportedly valued at around £20 million too. A fraction of the fee Benfica will demand for fellow teenager Joao Neves.
Belgium’s Bellingham?
Vermeeren has been labelled Belgium’s answer to Andres Iniesta by some. Likened to Kevin de Bruyne by others. Antwerp boss Mark van Bommel, meanwhile, sees similarities between his rapid rise to prominence and that of Jude Bellingham.
“Three or four years ago, he was a player who didn’t really stand out. He was small in stature. Hardworking. Quick. (But) I have to admit that I had not seen in him what he now offers,” Urbain Haesaert, a scout worked for Anderlecht and Ajax, explains to Het Laatste Nieuws
“The evolution he has made in the last two years is fantastic. I think his best position is that of defensive midfielder.”
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