‘An opportunity’: £4m ace admits he could have signed for Burnley

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Anderlecht goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen insists he is ‘not whining’ about a failed £4 million move to Vincent Kompany’s Championship leaders Burnley during the summer transfer window, speaking to Het Nieuwsblad. 

Given that the highly-rated shot-stopper has spent pretty much the entirety of this season with Anderlecht’s reserves in the Belgian second tier, his stance may come as a slight surprise. Especially with the club who tried and failed to sign him over the summer sitting pretty at the top of the Championship.

Verbruggen was set to undergo a medical at Burnley over the summer ahead of a £4 million move to Turf Moor. The 20-year-old Dutchman then changed his mind at the 11^th hour; opting instead to stay put rather than reunite with a coach who handed him his senior debut at Anderlecht in the first place. 

“Do I not regret that my transfer to Burnley last summer did not go through? No, I’m not whining about that,” explains Verbruggen. “Burnley was an opportunity, but Anderlecht is also a great club with a good coach.” 

Vincent Kompany’s Burnley wanted Anderlecht goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen

Verbruggen has not played a single Jupiler League match this season; Hendrik Van Crombrugge still firmly established as Anderlecht’s number one. As such, the youngster has been forced to accept a reserve-team role in Belgium’s second tier.  

Again, not that he’s complaining.

“Look, of course I would prefer to play more matches with the first-team. But there are still great keepers here, and Hendrik Van Crombrugge has already proven so much,” he adds.

“That’s why I like to play with the RSCA Future (the B-team). Those are pretty good matches with good football. Nice.”

Kompany eventually used his Manchester City connections to bring in Aro Muric instead after missing out on Verbruggen. The jury is still out on the one-time Nottingham Forest loanee, however; Muric’s issues when it comes to commanding his penalty area coming to the fore during a 5-2 defeat to promotion rivals Sheffield United last time out. 

“Bart has decided to stay with us,” Anderlecht coach Felice Mazzu, who replaced Kompany in the Lotto Park dugout, said after Verbruggen opted to stay put. 

“We are naturally very happy within the staff because he is a great talent at the club. Negotiations with Burnley? None of this concerns me: I only care about the player.”