AA Gent and KRC Genk have verbally agreed: Wouter Vrancken is leaving Limburgers with immediate effect

Wouter Vrancken and KRC Genk are parting ways with immediate effect. Vrancken will no longer be on the bench for the Limburgers on Saturday in the match against Anderlecht. The future of the head coach almost certainly lies with AA Gent, which has now reached an agreement with KRC Genk about the transfer. Now we just have to wait for an agreement between Wouter Vrancken and the Buffaloes themselves.

Today at 9:04 PM

The relationship between Vrancken and the Genk board had cooled for some time. Both in Europe and in competition – with the exception of a flare-up in the Champions’ play-offs – they did not perform as expected. That caused nervousness, because both parties had a different opinion about the cause of the poor performance. While Wouter Vrancken liked to attribute the major difference with the first season to the departure of strong players such as Onuachu (January ’23), Trésor (August ’24), Munoz (January ’24) and Paintsil (February ’24), the sporting managers are convinced that better performance is possible with the current core. Moreover, it is also felt that the integration of talented young people should be faster, an element that is central to the club’s long-term policy.

The mutual frictions became increasingly greater, also because there was an increasing feeling within Genk that Vrancken was committing his future to another club (AA Gent). These frictions would now have led to the termination of the collaboration with Vrancken, whose contract ran until June 30, 2026.

Vrancken had been head coach at Genk since July 1, 2022 and came close to becoming champion last year, but had to watch in the very last minute as Toby Alderweireld and Antwerp stole the title from them. With three matchdays to go, Genk is fourth, one point more than fifth in the Cercle Brugge standings.