Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at 17:32• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 17:43

Michel Vlap is on his way to FC Twente, reports TC Tubantia Wednesday afternoon. The club is currently negotiating a rental period with Vlap and his club Anderlecht and hopes to finalize the deal on Thursday. The midfielder does not appear in the plans of coach Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht and may therefore leave temporarily.

In July, agent Johan Hansma indicated that Vlap was not busy with a departure, despite that The newspapaer reported that his client is redundant for ‘football technical reasons’. According to the reports, the attacking midfielder would not fit within the system, in which ‘putting high pressure’ is an important pillar. “Anderlecht have not told us anything about this”, Hansma said at the time. “Michel wants to show that he has the qualities to succeed at a top club like Anderlecht and we have not heard anything that contradicts that.”

However, the news about a transfer was not completely unexpected. Last season, Vlap mainly spent on Anderlecht’s reserve bench, after which he was loaned out to Arminia Bielefeld in the second half of the season. In the summer of 2019, the attacking midfielder left Heerenveen for just under seven million euros for an adventure at Anderlecht and now he is returning to the Eredivisie. Twente therefore seems to present two new mercenaries in a short time. Earlier on Wednesday it became clear that Dimitris Limnios will be rented from 1. FC Köln for a season. Both players are expected to undergo a medical examination on Thursday and will be on the training field on Friday.

Vlap had a successful opening year at Lotto Park and became the club’s top scorer with 10 goals from 23 matches. Nevertheless, it went downhill for Vlap in the 2020/21 season, who therefore played on a rental basis for Arminia in the second half of the season. In seven Bundesliga appearances, he was accurate once and provided an assist. He will be the long-awaited new offensive midfielder at Twente. The club, which last season struggled with a lack of creativity and return from midfield, had long hoped for the arrival of Jurgen Ekkelenkamp from Ajax, but he seems to be on his way abroad.