Brian Rimmer: “Convince Vertonghen to continue for another year or two” | Jupiler Professional League

If it had been up to Brian Rimmer, Jan Vertonghen (36 years old) would not have had to think about retiring from football yet. The Danish Anderlecht coach wants to convince the Belgium international to stay on for another year or two. “When I see how keen he is, I don’t see a player thinking about retiring.”

Brian Rimmer has a full complement of players available for the Brussels derby against RWDM. Francis Amuzu, now the father of a daughter, is not there yet. He is being prepared for next week’s match against Westerlo. Yari Verschaeren will resume tomorrow with the RSCA Futures against Zulte Waregem. Jan Vertonghen has come through the international break well and can give it his all again. “I think Domenico Tedesco and the Red Devils’ medical staff handled the situation surrounding Jan Vertonghen very professionally, by only playing him against Azerbaijan,” Remer said. He added: “We and the national team want the same thing, and this is Jan Vertonghen who is the perfect fit.”

In an exclusive interview with HLN, Vertonghen indicated that he may not make a final decision on his future until March or April. The international record is in the final year of his contract. Anderlecht hopes to continue with Vertonghen, and coach Brian Rimmer will do everything in his power to convince him. He added: “Jesper Friedberg and I will do everything we can to convince Jan to continue at Anderlecht for at least another year or two.” Vertonghen is crucial for us. Honestly, when I see Jan busy, I don’t really see a player planning to stop. He has achieved more than 99% of professional footballers can only dream of. European Championships, World Cups, Champions League finals, I played in the biggest European competition for ten years… but in every training and every match I see a player enjoying every moment very much. He is very enthusiastic, and it is a pleasure to watch him work. We have a scoreboard at Neerpede where we can keep track of who has won the most matches, and Jan Vertonghen tops the rankings. This says it all. “I don’t really see any reason why he shouldn’t stop, but he will ultimately have to make a decision in consultation with his family.”

Kasper Schmeichel is still a brave man in his 30s and is out of contract at the end of the season, although he still has the option of an additional year. Schmeichel was heavily criticized in Denmark this week for not performing well against Northern Ireland. “Denmark has qualified for the European Championship, and that is the most important thing. I leave the rest of the analysis to the national team staff. What I know is that Schmeichel is the kind of player who uses criticism as fuel for improvement. Schmeichel is not going to stop after the European Championship next summer. Rather, he aims to World Cup 2026.