{"id":10975,"date":"2026-04-10T12:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T12:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/10975\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T12:02:07","slug":"belgiums-next-top-midfielder-why-bayern-and-spurs-are-desperate-to-sign-nathan-de-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/10975\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium’s next top midfielder – why Bayern and Spurs are desperate to sign Nathan De Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Player profile\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Belgium's<\/p>\n

\n \u00a9IMAGO\n <\/p>\n

When it comes to developing young players in European football, few leagues can rival the Belgian Jupiler Pro League’s<\/a> expertise. Whether it be Igor Thiago<\/a>, J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku<\/a>, Charles De Ketelaere<\/a> or many more, there’s no denying that the league knows a thing or two about turning young talents into future world stars. And at Anderlecht<\/a>, the small nation may have a new playmaking talent who will go on to be very popular in the summer transfer window.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While \u201cLes Mauve et Blanc\u201d may be having a rather unremarkable league season, as J\u00e9r\u00e9my Taravel\u2019s<\/a> side languish in sixth place in the league table, fans have been treated to some outstanding performances from young midfielder Nathan de Cat<\/a> throughout the league campaign. After making his debut for the first team last season, De Cat quickly nailed down a starting spot this term and hasn\u2019t looked back.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Across all competitions, De Cat has bagged three goals and five assists from midfield in 39 appearances across all competitions. That, consequently, has seen his market value shoot up to \u20ac25 million. That is an increase of \u20ac22.5m since the start of this season and the highest rise in market value for any player in world football, outside of Europe\u2019s top five leagues. So, how good is De Cat and is he destined for a big move this summer?<\/p>\n

\"Top<\/p>\n

“He can play all three positions in midfield,\u201d notes Bart Tamysn, Transfermarkt\u2019s Area Manager for Belgium, when asked about De Cat\u2019s progress this season. \u201cMost of the time he’s a box-to-box player, but he can also play as a defensive midfielder and the last few games he even played as an attacking midfielder and scored, gave assists. Basically, he’s got the whole package.”<\/p>\n

However, while De Cat has clearly thrived in the Belgian top-flight, his tender age of just 17 can\u2019t be overlooked. And, as Tamysn points out, that likely means he isn\u2019t quite ready to make an immediate move to one of Europe\u2019s biggest clubs this summer. “If there’s just one thing he needs to improve on, then it’s his physical ability,\u201d added Tamysn. \u201cEven without Anderlecht playing European football, just weekend games, every four or five games, he needs to be substituted because he’s just so fatigued. Against Club Brugge, after just 38 minutes of play, he was already standing there bent over his knees. That’s why he’s still not the most valuable player in Belgium, because we still see improvement he needs to make.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Despite De Cat\u2019s obvious room for growth, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive regarding his future at Anderlecht. The midfield\u2019s current contract expires in 2027, and with no new deal looking likely as negotiations continue to drag on between the player and the club, it seems more than likely that the young midfielder will likely be sold this summer. Since the start of 2026, no fewer than eight clubs have been linked with a move for De Cat, but the three front-runners seem to be RB Leipzig<\/a>, Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> and Bayern Munich<\/a>. According to Tamysn, Bayern may have an advantage due to the fact that Vincent Kompany<\/a> knows the young midfielder \u201cby heart\u201d and \u201cevery little detail about him\u201d due to frequent visits to Anderlecht to talk to the young star. However, a move to a smaller club may make more sense in the immediate term for the Belgium international.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

Rumour<\/p>\n

\"Nathan <\/p>\n

N. De Cat<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"RSC <\/p>\n

Central Midfield <\/p>\n

RSC Anderlecht <\/p>\n

\"RSC <\/p>\n

?<\/p>\n

\"RB <\/p>\n

Leipzig <\/p>\n

Jupiler Pro League <\/p>\n

Bundesliga <\/p>\n

<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

Rumour<\/p>\n

\"Nathan <\/p>\n

N. De Cat<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"RSC <\/p>\n

Central Midfield <\/p>\n

RSC Anderlecht <\/p>\n

\"RSC <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

49 %<\/p>\n

\"Bayern <\/p>\n

Bayern Munich <\/p>\n

Jupiler Pro League <\/p>\n

Bundesliga <\/p>\n

<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

Rumour<\/p>\n

\"Nathan <\/p>\n

N. De Cat<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"RSC <\/p>\n

Central Midfield <\/p>\n

RSC Anderlecht <\/p>\n

\"RSC <\/p>\n

?<\/p>\n

\"Tottenham <\/p>\n

Tottenham <\/p>\n

Jupiler Pro League <\/p>\n

Premier League <\/p>\n

<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

“He can go to a top five league, probably a top club from the top five leagues, but he will be loaned out,\u201d suggested the Belgian football expert. \u201cA similar case as we saw with Luka Vu\u0161kovi\u0107 at Tottenham, who has now been loaned out for the second season in a row. I\u2019d rather see a path like Luka Vu\u0161kovi\u0107, with some loans before he’s physically ready to compete for the top clubs, where you also have to compete at European levels.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Although De Cat may not be ready for the biggest stage yet, he\u2019ll still demand a large transfer fee to reflect his blossoming market value. And, according to Tamysn, he\u2019ll almost certainly break Anderlecht\u2019s transfer record, which was set in 2020 when Doku was sold to Stade Rennais for \u20ac26m. “If we’re talking about a transfer fee, then we’re thinking in the region of \u20ac25-30m,\u201d said Tamysn. \u201cIf it’s a bidding war, then it will go above \u20ac30m. If it’s just one club that puts pressure on it, then it will be more around \u20ac25m. The top transfer fee for Anderlecht was Doku to Standard, and they\u2019ll probably want to break it with him.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Player profile\u00a0 \u00a9IMAGO When it comes to developing young players in European football, few leagues can rival the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7485,7,7487,7484,5406,5844,7486,6547],"class_list":{"0":"post-10975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-belgium","8":"tag-bayern-munich","9":"tag-belgium","10":"tag-jeremy-taravel","11":"tag-jupiler-pro-league","12":"tag-nathan-de-cat","13":"tag-rb-leipzig","14":"tag-rsc-anderlecht","15":"tag-tottenham-hotspur"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116380312986225907","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}