Genk are currently leading the Belgian Pro League and have a chance to win their fifth Belgian Pro League title. Their last league win was in the 2018/2019 season. Four years later, lets see where some of those that featured in this side are playing their football.
Head coach
Phillipe Clement
Phillipe Clement has one of the best CV’s of anyone who has coached in Belgium. The former Club Brugge and Coventry man began his managerial career with then Waasland-Beveren before joining Genk in 2017. After the 2018/19 title, he joined Club Brugge and went on to win another three Belgian titles. He is currently in charge of Monaco, having left Club Brugge in January of 2022.
Goalkeeper
Danny Vukovic
Australian keeper Vukovic joined Genk in 2017 from Sydney FC on a free transfer. During the 2018/19 season he made 37 appearances for Genk, conceding just 35 goals and keeping 14 clean sheets. The Aussie lost his place to the teenage sensation Maarten Vandevoordt in the 2021/22 season and moved to NEC Nijmegen. He is currently the captain of A League side Central Coast Mariners.
Defenders
Joakim Maehle
Genk picked up full-back Maehle for a bargain of just €1.30m form Danish side Aalborg in 2017. During the title win the right-back was ever present, playing 39 league games. He scored three goals and provided six assists. It did not come as a surprise when bigger sides came calling for the Danes services, and his move to Atlanta for €13.7m in 2021 made Genk a nice profit.
Joseph Aidoo
The then 22-year-old Ghanaian defender Joseph Aidoo joined Genk for just €1.25m in the summer of 2017 from Hammarby in Sweden. Aidoo would be another to go on and make the side a nice profit when he left in the summer of 2019. Spanish side Celta de Vigo were clearly impressed with the man from Ghana and parted with €8m to secure his services. Aidoo has played every minute of their 22 La Liga games this season.
Sebastian Dewaest
Sebastian Dewaest joined the side from Charleroi in 2015 and made 50 appearances in all competitions during the title winning campaign. The central defender also chipped in with seven goals. He spent last season on loan with OH Leuven before returning to Genk, where he was surplus to requirements. Dewaest is currently playing in Cyprus with AEL Limassol, alongside other notable players such as Saido Berahino.
Jere Uronen
Finish international Jere Uronen joined Genk in 2016 from another Swedish side Helsingborgs IF. During the title winning season he made 43 appearances in all competitions. After two more seasons with Genk he left to join Brest in Ligue 1 for just €1m. This summer he left France to join recently promoted Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, where he has made six appearances in their battle to avoid an immediate return to the second tier of German football.
Midfielders
Sander Berge
20-year-old Sander Berge had joined Genk in the winter of 2017 for just €2m, another absolute bargain for the side. He played 40 games and was a standout performer for the champions throughout the 2018/19 season. He only managed another half a campaign with Genk before other sides came calling. Sheffield United were willing to part with €23m for the midfielder, and many Genk fans are surprised that he is still there in the Championship.
Ruslan Malinovskyi
With Ruslan Malinovskyi alongside Berge, its no wonder that this side competed for a title. 51 appearances for the Ukrainian international during the 2018/19 campaign and 16 goals saw plenty of top clubs interested in the then 25-year-old. Another bargain buy at €2m in 2017 from Shaktar Donetsk, at the end of the title wining campaign Atlanta gave Genk €13m plus for Malinovskyi. He is currently in Marseille on loan, with one goal in seven appearances.
Bryan Heynen
Bryan Heynen is one of the few still at the club from the title winning side, and is currently the clubs captain. At the time he was just 20-years-old and this was his breakout season. He began the first couple of games on the bench, but after match week he was playing regular 90 minutes. During the title play-off’s the youngster played every minute of all but two of their 10 games.
Alejandro Pozuelo
Former Swansea man Alejandro Pozuelo joined Genk from Rayo Vallecano in the summer of 2015 on a free. The club captain at the time, Pozuelo picked up five goals and 10 assists in 28 league games for the side, but by the end of the season he was no longer the captain. He also did not feature in the title play-offs to end the year, having departed the club that March for around €9m to join Toronto. He since moved on to Miami and has returned to European football with Konyaspor in Turkey during the 2023 winter transfer window.
Forwards
Leandro Trossard
Another Genk academy prospect, Leandro Trossard had spent a few seasons away on loan with other Belgian sides. This was also his breakout season, with 14 goals in the league in 34 games, as well as seven assists. Unsurprisingly, that summer sides came calling for the winger. Brighton spent just over €15m on Trossard, before selling him this winter for €24m to Arsenal.
Junya Ito
Junya Ito only joined the side in the winter, but he made an instant impact. Initially on loan, Ito went on to make 14 appearances for Genk after joining, scoring three times and providing two assists. Ito went on to be a start player for Genk until he departed the club for France in the summer of 2022. During the 2021/2022 season, he provided 15 assists in 34 games.
Dieurmerci Ndongala
Former Standard Liege man Dieurmerci Ndongala started 21 games in the regular season for Genk. He joined in the summer of 2018 and scored four goals and provided four assists. However, with Ito’s arrival he saw his game time reduce, and by the play-offs he was a clear second choice. In the summer of 2020 he joined Kasimpasa on loan, before leaving Genk in 2020 to his current side APOEL Nicosia for €350k.
Mbwana Samatta
The sides top scorer during the 2018/19 title win, Mbwana Samatta is currently back at Genk. The Tanzanian international has scored an incredible 77 goals in 214 games for Genk, with 23 league goals when they last won the title. That secured him a move to Aston Villa in the winter of the following season. He has since been with Fenerbahçe and Antwerp before returning to Genk on loan. With Paul Onuachu having departed to Southampton, Genk fans will be hoping Samatta can rekindle the form of 2018/19.
GBeNeFNÂ |Â Ben Jackson
