Anderlecht were all set to sign two Newcastle United players this summer.
Matz Sels spent the last season on loan at the Belgium club and really fought to make sure he impressed. On arrival, Sels was first used in a rotation basis but made sure he became undisputed first choice goalkeeper.
There was no question of whether Anderlecht wanted to keep the goalkeeper longer than the loan, they certainly did, it was just a matter of coming to an agreement with Newcastle.
Earlier this month it was reported Anderlecht had offered €2m for Sels, which was said to have brought laughter from Newcastle. The bid was so low it genuinely seemed odd, especially as Sels would have been the Belgian side’s first choice goalkeeper.
There’s of course not as much money in Belgian football as in England, but even by the country’s transfer standards it was a surprisingly low effort.
Given what happened there, the chance of Anderlecht agreeing a fee for Chancel Mbemba didn’t seem likely.
Wednesday’s edition of HLN quotes Marc Coucke, the club’s new owned, explaining: “Sels was too expensive and with Mbemba we were very close to an agreement, also with 
Newcastle, but all of a sudden the player chose to talk to Porto, he quickly came to an agreement, he could earn even more than at Newcastle.”
That sounds like fan pleasing stuff. Newcastle have struggled to come to an agreement with Porto, wanting closer to €10m than €5m, and it’s just not likely Anderlecht would have gone there.
