Antwerp CEO Sven Jakes beams after Golden Boot ceremony: 'This is unprecedented' | Golden Shoe

“We won everything on the pitch, that's why we won five titles here,” Jakes began. “He deserves it. The best goalkeeper award is probably the most controversial, because Jan Botez had a poor performance in the second half of the year. But we won the title, the cup, the Super Cup and qualified for the Champions League. This is unique and unparalleled. It was an Antwerp evening.”

Jaecques was proud of his captain Toby Alderweireld, who won the Golden Boot. “From the moment Toby steps on the field, he gives everything. He is very professional.” Mark van Bommel won the Best Coach award. “It was more difficult for him as a coach after Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven. We gave him a chance to show that he is a great coach and he took full advantage of it. The support of Marc Overmars, with stable management and a president who takes a lot of pressure, helped him. He did a great job.”

Jaecques couldn't say much about Marc Overmars' comment. “Mark has been temporarily suspended,” the statement read. We don't know anymore. Clarification has been requested. This will take a long time and the FIFA portal will not work. For this reason, it is not entirely clear where we stand today. In fact, I don't think there was a problem at all with taking him today and letting him work for the time being. We don't do this because we don't want to provoke. But there are no new facts. FIFA adopts a decision. Without getting into the content: Someone commenting around the world is disproportionate. But first let's see where we stand. “As soon as we know more, we will of course communicate.”

Therefore Overmars was not present at the Antwerp exhibition. “It remains a shame today not to celebrate someone who was so instrumental in our success. A huge compliment to his work. We thought about taking him on anyway, because the man deserves to be here. But he himself said he didn't want to overshadow the evening. Today it's about Antwerp.” And everything we achieved.

Arthur Vermeeren, this year's promise, is still an Antwerp player. Will this still be the case after this month? “You can never say for sure,” Jack was honest. “There's no point in making statements about it. Regardless of whether he leaves in January or in the summer, it will be for a team that fully supports him. Then it would be a good deal for all parties. Do we want to keep him on loan for the rest of the season? Some clubs are open to that.” “And others are not. Arthur will not let his choice depend on that. The advantage is that we are not talking to 20-25 clubs. This is about the absolute top spot of five to six teams. We will see what happens.”

Finally, the financial situation. Because there are rumors surrounding the Great Old One. Payments to suppliers and employees are made later than expected due to a cash flow problem. The CEO responded by saying: “Our financial situation is not much different from other clubs.” “Anwerp came into the picture because we have had great success. We also have a president who comes into the picture. Then it is no longer about the pure truth, but about everything that surrounds it. The truth is that we have to make the payments. If we do that, nothing will happen. If we don't “Because we could be hit with a transfer ban. It would be very easy for your media to follow up on that. You can never give guarantees in life, but I have every confidence that everything will go well,” Jakes said.