Standout Stars: Belgian Pro League 2023/24

By Neel Shelat

With the transfer window is fast approaching, clubs around the world will be looking to strengthen their squads in preparation for the next campaign, so the standout stars in various leagues will be on many radars. Using smarterscout’s league benchmarking models and advanced metrics, we will pick out some such players in this series.

The Belgian Pro League has established itself as one of the strongest and most competitive in Europe outside the big five. It features historic giants such as Anderlecht and Club Brugge as well as rising forces like Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and is stacked with quality through sides like Genk, Royal Antwerp, Gent and Standard Liège, who are at least battling for a European spot if not the title.

The Pro League also offers a great developmental pathway for players from around the country, continent and globe. Many of its clubs have famed academies but also great scouting set-ups that scour relatively obscure leagues to find hidden talents. With a confluence of all these elements, it is quite possibly one of the most interesting leagues to follow in the world.

The 2023/24 season was no different to any of its other recent campaigns as we were treated to a thrilling three-way title race and closely-contested European battle. As ever, many players from around the world starred, so here are a few standout stars that popped out to our model:

Cameron Puertas (CM, 1998, Union Saint-Gilloise)

Cameron Puertas took a fair bit of time to get going after joining Union Saint-Gilloise in early 2022 but ever since he finally secured a regular starting spot, opponents have found him very tough to stop.

He made the left-sided midfield position in Union’s 3-5-2 formation his own this season following the departure of club captain Teddy Teuma. He was given a pretty free role in which he could drop back and help progress the ball by passing or carrying forward before going on to pose a serious attacking threat in the final third.

Puertas’ on-ball quality and excellent spatial understanding will make him a valuable midfielder in any side. If reports are anything to go by, about half of Europe seems to be chasing his signature including clubs such as Marseille, Monaco, Fenerbahçe, Sevilla and Villarreal. With upto a couple of years left on his contract, Union should easily get an eight-digit transfer fee for him.

Kévin Denkey (ST, 2000, Cercle Brugge)

Kévin Denkey has been a standout mid-table striker in the Pro League for a few seasons now, but he and Cercle Brugge took things up a notch in 2023/24 as he netted a whopping 23 non-penalty goals to fire his side to a mightily impressive fourth-place finish – their best since World War II.

The Togolese international is a strong striker with great goal-scoring instincts. His movement in the final third and into the penalty area is quite impressive (26 of his 27 goals last season came from inside the box) and he has the burst needed to create a separation to shoot with the ball at his feet. To cap it all off, he can get serious power on his shots with his favored right foot and is not half bad with his left. Without the ball, he keeps his build-up involvement low but does lead the press well.

At just 23 years old, Denkey has a long career ahead of him but already seems ready for a move to a top European club. All sorts of teams from Manchester United and Monaco to Tottenham Hotspur and Napoli are being linked with him, so expected a serious transfer battle this summer. 

Abdelkahar Kadri (CM, 2000, Kortrijk)

Kortrijk emerged victorious after a dramatic five-goal extra-time period in their relegation play-off against Lommel to stay up in the Pro League, extending their 16-year-long stay in the top flight. Had they failed to do so, though, they would certainly have been the subjects of one of our Relegated Ballers features, and Abdelkahar Kadri would have been the first name on the list.

The Algerian midfielder has been at Kortrijk since 2021, having joined from boyhood club Paradou AC. He has impressed year after year but enjoyed his best campaign in 2023/24, even captaining the side for a good part of the season. They alternated between 3-5-2 and 3-4-1-2 formations, so he either started on the left of midfield or as the number 10.

In either role, Kadri excellent on-ball qualities stood out as he offered great progressive as well as creative passing and proved very hard to dispossess even in tight spaces thanks to his fantastic cllse control. He also put in very good defensive shifts despite not being a great ball-winner.

Domestic giants Club Brugge have reportedly been interested in Kadri for a while, but they may face competition from other sides such as Genk. Our model also thinks that established top-five league clubs ought to take a look at him if they want a bargain deal for a young creative midfielder.

Maxim De Cuyper (LB, 2000, Club Brugge)

Maxim De Cuyper’s development is going just as he might have dreamt it. After a stellar season on loan at Westerlo, he returned to Club Brugge and simply kept at it, slotting in seamlessly.

The young left back has a unique profile as a very intelligent creative full-back rather than someone who simply runs up the flank and spams crosses in. His positional understanding and off-ball movement (often going infield) is excellent but does not outshine his vision for his defense-splitting passes. At the same time, he retains the ball quite well and is solid defensively.

De Cuyper signed a contract until 2026 upon returning to Club Brugge but could well be on th emove this summer. The giants of the Süper Lig have all been linked with him, but his call-up to the Belgian squad for the Euros is sure to put him on the radar of the biggest Western European clubs.

Bryan Heynen (DM/CM, 1997, Genk)

Although Genk could only finish fifth and failed to build on their title challenge from last season, Bryan Heynen continued to catch the eye in their midfield.

He usually starts as a part of their double pivot in midfield in a 4-2-3-1 formation but is given the license to get forward as a number eight in possession. The timing of his late runs into the box is brilliant and matched by his composed finishing, which has helped him chip in with 19 goals for his side across all competitions in the last two seasons.

The 27-year-old midfielder can more than hold his own defensively even when forced to drop deep down the pitch and is capable of progressing the ball if need be – though you would ideally want him closer to the final third. All things considered, he has a well-rounded profile and a consistent track record that should impress any potential suitors.

At the moment, though, a contract extension at Genk is most likely for Heynen. Should talks fall through, though, the Premier League sides that were reportedly interested in him last summer might want to get back in touch.

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