Arthur Theate

Written by Koen Van Uytvange, Pieter-Jan Calcoen and Yanko Beeckman for Nieuwsblad:

Although a youth international at all age groups, in the summer of 2020 nobody seemed to want Arthur Theate. He had no future with the Standard Liège Under-21 team and not even with teams in the third tier. Until he got a trial at KV Oostende – and was signed. A year later, he left for Bologna and was already a senior international.  “I don't feel any grudge – on the contrary, I say thank you to all those who rejected me,” he says. In 2022, a transfer fee of £17m made him the most expensive centre-back ever bought by talent factory Rennes, the former club of Raphinha, Jérémy Doku and Ousmane Dembélé. Not the most technically gifted but a warrior on the field. At Belgian youth-team level, he was a roommate of the footballer turned cyclist Remco Evenepoel. Carles Puyol was his idol and Theate is especially fond of cars and engines, once saying: “Is there something more interesting than Formula One?”