While Manchester United might be interested in one Anderlecht starlet named Youri Tielemans, one player in their squad faced one of his former clubs on Thursday.
Marouane Fellaini, brought to the Premier League by David Moyes’ Everton from Standard Liège, spent three years with the purple Belgian team, between the age of seven and 10.
Ahead of this return, DH in Belgium decided to find out a little bit more about his time there.
His father, Abdelatif Fellaini, recalls how the trial with Anderlecht came about, with help from Fernand Beeckman, then physio at the club.
He said: “I said I wanted to sign my son up. He asked me his age When I said 7, he felt it was a bit late, but I insisted because I knew how strong Marouane was physically. Finally, Anderlecht accepted the trial.
“He was shooting with his left and his right. All the balls were going in, even from 15m out. The goalkeeper was Flemish. I remember vividly because he was got told off by his mum. They quickly signed him up.”
Explaining Fellaini made the young boy cry, Abdelatif was very proud of how his son did, and for him to pursue a career he, as a goalkeeper, was never able to see through.
However, the story from Anderlecht’s side is a bit different.
Paul Schraepen, then director of the smaller sides affiliated to Anderlecht explained: “That long shot story, it’s fiction. We tested how Marouane did with the ball in his feet that day. He had potential, but his technique in short spaces was too limited. He didn’t seem to have what was needed for an Anderlecht player.
“Physically, however, he was a beast. He could have become a 5k runner without a problem. When he played, we always felt like we had an extra man on the pitch. He was everywhere.”
Scoring 26 goals in his first season and 37 in his second, Fellaini was eventually told to look elsewhere when the family returned too late from one of their holidays.
This led to him eventually ending up at Standard Liège, where the rest is history.
