Players for Top leagues #3 — Dante Vanzeir

The third player on the list of interesting options for strengthening in the top European championships is Dante Vanzeir.
Player Profile:
Age: 23
Height: 175 cm
Role: center / right forward
Club: “Union” Brussels
Nationality: Belgian

The top scorer of the Belgian First League in the 20/21 season, has passed through the Belgium youth teams of all ages.

The leader of the first place in the Belgian championship “Union”. Vanzeir is a graduate of “Genk”, one of the best academies in Europe.
In 2015, Vanzeir played on the U-17 World Cup, where he scored 2 goals in the match for third place, scoring the decisive goal at the end of the match. Dante was gradually attracted to training with the main team, at the age of 18 he made his debut in big football, but already in September of the 16/17 season one of the most unpleasant injuries in sports happened — a rupture of the cruciate ligaments.
At the start of the 19/20 season, it seemed that everything would turn out great: goals, a call to the youth team, a regular appearance at the base. Already in December, Dante firmly established himself on the bench and only came out on substitutions. Then the coronavirus, the early end of the championship and all over again. This time, not a lease, but a full-fledged transfer to the “Union”. In “Genk” they lost hope —Vanzeir is 22 years old, it’s time to play regularly.

In “Union” 19 goals + 8 assists in 24 matches, the best player of the first Belgian division, the return of the club to the elite after almost 50 years. In the new season, “Union” burst in as loud as possible. The first line in the standings, lovely style, incredible atmosphere at the stadium. Dante scored 12 goals in 23 rounds and gave 9 assists, adding to this a goal in the cup. On November 5, Vanzeir received a call-up to the national team, to which he went for a long time through serious injuries and a game in the first division.

Strong features:
1. Very sharp and fast player. Easily breaks away from the opponent, if he has already accelerated, then he is almost unstoppable.
2. Opening at the border of the offside position. An important quality for the attacking format. Runs behind the backs of defenders at the slightest deconcentration.
3. Conversion rate. Dante hits quite rarely for a striker — 2.53 hits on average per match. But 50% goes on target, crazy numbers. His xG at the top level is 40.07 and his goals are 49.
4. Versatility. Vanzeir is used to playing in a pair of strikers, he can adapt to a partner (their bond with Deniz Undav is brilliant). During the game, he can move to the right, look for free zones to penetrate into the penalty area. Feels comfortable in different roles, played a lot as a drawn forward.

Weak features:
1. There is one drawback, but a significant one — the susceptibility to injury. Dante’s cruciate ligaments were torn in both knees. This fact is alarming, because no one can know for sure whether everything will be in order in the future.

Statistics:
Successful actions, % — 53%
Accurate passes, % — 63%
Key passes/Accurate key passes — 2,4/1,17
Successful dribbles, % — 43%
Attacking challenges, per 90min — 9
Attacking challenges won, % — 31%
Air challenges, per 90min — 2,2
Air challenges won, % — 30%
Goals/xG — 0,54/0,48
Assists/xA — 0,4/0,37

● — shots on target
✖ — wide shots/blocked shots
Ⓖ — goals

52 shots at all:
Right foot — 40 shots
Left foot — 9 shots
Head — 3 shots

40 shots from the penalty area — 21 shots on target

12 shots from outside the penalty area — 5 shots on target

Total conversation rate is 24%.

Thanks to open statistics from “Wyscout” on the internet, we can see how Dante’s linking with Deniz Undav works. Vanzeir goes deeper behind the ball and sees his partners perfectly, giving key passes.

This image shows the entrances to the penalty area. The blue lines represent the carries. Key passes are marked in red. The dotted line marks the crosses. Pale lines are passes.

What is the next step ?
His market value will rise, but at the moment Tranfermarkt estimates Dante at only 3 million euro. After “Union” take the Belgian top league championship (which is likely to happen), Vanzeir’s price will rise by several million euros. Interest in him will also increase among teams from the top 5 Leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France). In terms of adaptation, the best options are moving to Ligue 1. A similar language, not far from native Belgium. Among all the championships, France is a little lower in level, plus a potential new team will be ready to earn extra money on resale, if everything goes well. I see him in hypothetical Lens, Lille or maybe even Lyon next season.

What’s the result?
Still quite a young effective striker. Very fast legs, good openings. Good at challenges and works out in pressure. The stream converts a few shots into goals scored. The contract with “Union” until 2024 with the option of extension for a year. He strives to become the champion of the country, he has already got into the national team.