Saelemaekers: '2.5 years ago Milan was also very ill'

INTERVIEWS Alexis Saelemaekers is currently in Belgium to rehabilitate from a knee injury. Het Laatste Nieuws sought him out and of course Anderlecht came up for discussion. "It hurts to see the club of my heart go through such a difficult period," the Milan player told the paper.


Saelemaekers played for Anderlecht for more than a decade, breaking through there under Hein Vanhaezebrouck. After a difficult period under Vincent Kompany, he surprisingly moved to AC Milan in January 2020. But his love for purple and white is not gone. "I love Neerpede," Saelemaekers says. "I still come there regularly and want to share my experience."

That Anderlecht is struggling is hard on the purple-white youth product. "But everything will be fine, I know that," he sounds confident. "When I arrived at Milan 2.5 years ago, the club was also very ill. Suddenly everything fell into place: the right boss, the right coach and the right players. You just need some luck." That luck resulted in May in a first league title in a decade for the Rossoneri. 

According to Saelemaekers, Anderlecht's selection has more qualities than they have shown lately. "When you lose a lot, confidence disappears quickly. What I saw against Eupen, I found hopeful."