‘Perhaps it wasn’t the right club’ – Ex-Atletico Madrid wonderkid breaks silence on nightmare transfer

Looking back at his sudden departure from Antwerp, Vermeeren acknowledges that things did not go to plan. Atletico paid €22 million (£18.5m) for his services, a fee largely driven by the Belgian club’s financial difficulties at the time. The midfielder admits that the move to Spain was flawed from a sporting perspective.

“I don’t think I necessarily made bad decisions,” Vermeeren told Het Nieuwsblad. “Probably there were wrong decisions among them, but the circumstances, which few people are aware of, also played a part. Perhaps Atletico wasn’t the right club, but at the time it seemed the best option, and I fully supported it.”