Vande Velde: “ 7 of 10 transfers have to be successful”

To be able to replace possible leaving players, those who scout need to have a list of replacements. “During one year I’ve seen 220 games,” says RSCA scout Rik Vande Velde. “It’s our job to pick the right ones.”

Together with four other people, Vande Velde is always busy looking for new players.
When Anderlecht loses a player, they have to be ready with a new one. “You have to have a certain feeling and a past as player or trainer. You also have to take in account what the trainer is looking for.” He says in La Dernière Heure. "10 out of 10 is impossible. Even 8/10 is a dream. When 6 or 7 players out of 10 succeed, we did a good job,” thinks Vande Velde.

The past few years we made some mistakes: Théréau, Bulykin and Rnic. I wouldn’t have taken Théréau. Bulykin, I saw him for 3.5 minutes. Werner Deraeve saw him during a whole game and he thought he was good. We wanted to see him more, but he was always on the bench. Rnic wasn’t that big of a risk to take. “He seemed interesting to me because his contract was over and he was a player at Partizan, champion of Serbia. I advised him to the club, but I’m not the only one. I’m not the one who decides.