Dennis Praet

Dennis Praet
Personal information
Full name Dennis Praet
Date of birth (1994-05-14) 14 May 1994
Place of birth Leuven, Belgium
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Sampdoria
Number 18
Youth career
1999–2000 SJV Motbroek
2000–2002 Stade Leuven
2002–2010 Genk
2010–2011 Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2016 Anderlecht 138 (20)
2016– Sampdoria 5 (0)
National team‡
2009 Belgium U15 3 (0)
2009–2010 Belgium U16 10 (1)
2010–2011 Belgium U17 11 (2)
2011 Belgium U18 2 (0)
2012 Belgium U19 7 (2)
2012–2016 Belgium U21 17 (2)
2014– Belgium 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:24, 8 October 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:50, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

Dennis Praet (born 14 May 1994) is a Belgian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Sampdoria.

Club career

Youth at Genk

Born in Leuven, Belgium, Praet joined the Genk youth academy in 2002 at the age of 8. He went on to spend most of his youth career at Genk, where he quickly made an impression and played for the club's youth teams until 2010.[2][3] He was part of a strong generation at the club and scouts considered him one of the top talents. He became part of Belgium's youth teams and attracted the interest of clubs like Arsenal, Barcelona, Ajax and Lille.[2][4]

RSC Anderlecht

In May 2010 Praet transferred from Genk to Anderlecht turning down more lucrative offers.[2][3] At Anderlecht he started out with the under-19 team, continuing to impress. In 2011, he received the prize for best player during the AEGON Future Cup in Amsterdam, a youth tournament in which teams like Ajax and Bayern Munich also competed.[5]

Praet debuted in Anderlecht's first team on 21 September 2011 starting in the Belgian Cup against Lommel United and making two assists. In the next round of the cup he scored his first official goal for Anderlecht, against Rupel Boom FC. Not long after, on 30 October, he also made his debut in the Belgian Pro League as a substitute for Fernando Canesin while playing against Lierse SK. In March 2012, Praet signed a new contract until 2015.

During the 2012–2013, Praet played regularly.[2]

A two-year contract extension was agreed in early 2014 to take him through to the summer of 2017. He scored the third goal in Anderlecht's 3–1 Jupiler Pro League Playoff win over Lokeren on 25 May 2014 to seal Anderlect's 33rd league title.

Praet made his 100th competitive appearance for the club in the league match at Club Brugge on 31 August 2014. On 16 September, he scored away to Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League group stage to put Anderlecht in front, but the Turkish club equalised in added time.[6] His first league goal of the 2014–15 season came in the 2–2 draw at home to Club Brugge when he scored Anderlecht's opening goal to equalise midway through the first-half. Like his strike against Galatasaray in the Champions League, it went in off the post. He scored in four consecutive games for Anderlecht between 14 and 26 December 2014, with the league wins over KV Oostende, Waasland Beveren and KVC Westerlo and the Belgian Cup win against SV Zulte Waregem.

This rich of form at the end of the year was rewarded at a ceremony on 14 January 2015 where Praet won the 2014 Belgian Golden Shoe, the annual award given to the best player in the Jupiler Pro League for the previous calendar year. He polled five points (250) ahead of Víctor Vázquez of Club Brugge (245).[7][8]

Sampdoria

On 24 August 2016, Praet's move to Sampdoria was finalised. Sampdoria paid a transfer fee of €10 million.[9]

International career

Belgium

Praet has represented Belgium at every age group under-15 and older making an appearance in the U21 team a mere three years after first playing for the U15 team.[2]

On 6 November 2014, Praet received his first call up to the senior Belgian squad for the friendly at home to Iceland on 12 November, and the Euro 2016 Qualifier against Wales on 16 November. He made his senior international début coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Christian Benteke after all four goals had been scored in the 3–1 friendly win over Iceland in Brussels.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 22 May 2016.[10]
Club Season League National Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Anderlecht 2011–12 Belgian Pro League 702100—91
2012–13 272626[lower-alpha 1]11[lower-alpha 2]1406
2013–14 375206[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 2]0465
2014–15 307216[lower-alpha 1]11[lower-alpha 2]0399
2015–16 376009000466
Career totals 138201242723118027
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. 1 2 3 Appearances in Belgian Super Cup

Honours

Club

Anderlecht

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Dennis Praet". RSCA. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dorrington, Nick (21 July 2015). "Dennis Praet's vision and technique have made Europe's elite take notice". ESPNFC. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  3. 1 2 Wollaston, Steve (3 July 2015). "Aston Villa - everything you need to know about new £10m target Dennis Praet". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "Arsenal to beat Barcelona in race for Belgian wonderkid?". Total Barça. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Jonges, Ronald (25 April 2011). "AEGON Future Cup: Het eindrapport" (in Dutch). Ajax.nl. Retrieved 30 January 2013. adidas Beste Speler van de AEGON Future Cup 2011: Anderlecht-middenvelder Dennis Praet nam de prijs voor Beste Speler van het toernooi in ontvangst uit handen van Ajacied Christian Eriksen.
  6. ↑ "Galatasaray 1-1 Anderlecht: Late Burak goal saves point for hosts". Goal.com. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Scholten, Berend (14 January 2015). "Anderlecht's Praet is Belgium's best". UEFA.com. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Dennis Praet wint Gouden Schoen, Vazquez strandt op vijf puntjes". Sporza (in Dutch). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Sampdoria stelt Dennis Praet officieel voor" [Sampdoria officially presents Dennis Praet]. Sport Wereld (in Dutch). 24 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "D. Praet". soccerway.com. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Paars-witte U17 winnen AEGON Future Cup". RSCA.be. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  12. ↑ "Anderlecht's Praet is Belgium's best". UEFA. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
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