Bryan Heynen

Bryan Heynen
Personal information
Full name Bryan Heynen
Date of birth (1997-02-06) 6 February 1997 (age 27)[1]
Place of birth Bree, Belgium[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Genk
Number 28
Youth career
2003–2015 Genk
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015– Genk 251 (29)
International career‡
2013 Belgium U16 3 (0)
2017–2019 Belgium U21 12 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 June 2019

Bryan Heynen (born 6 February 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Genk. He plays as a midfielder.[1]

Career

A creative midfielder, Heynen came through the youth system at Racing Genk to make his Belgian Pro League debut on 25 July 2015 in a 3–1 home win against OH Leuven. He replaced Wilfred Ndidi after 66 minutes.[2]

In his second season at the club, Heynen had an elongated run in the first team under Peter Maes at the age of 19 as Genk finished eighth.

Due to a serious knee injury that he sustained in training in November 2017, he did not play much in the 2017/2018 season, but was still offered a new five-year contract at the end of 2018.[3]

With Philippe Clement now in charge, Heynen played all but five games as Genk stormed to the 2019 league title, the fourth in their history and their first for eight years.[4][5]

Clement's departure for Club Brugge saw a period of instability and major change off the pitch as the club hired four first-team coaches in the space of 15 months - Felice Mazzu, Hannes Wolf, Jess Thorup and finally John van den Brom.

With Heynen now appointed captain by Mazzu, he featured in Genk's early UEFA Champions League exit in 2019-20 having been paired with Liverpool, Napoli and a Salzburg side containing Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino.

When Thorup departed for FC Copenhagen in his native Denmark after six games, Genk finally found stability for the 2020-21 season under van den Brom, finishing runners-up behind Club Brugge in the League, and winning the 2020-21 Belgian Cup with Heynen as captain, beating Standard Liege 2-1 in the final.[6][7][8]

After a disappointing campaign the following season where defensive frailty saw van den Brom dismissed mid-season, and Bernd Storck only able to guide Genk to the 2022 Belgian Pro League's European play-offs, Heynen's form surged under the tenureship of new coach Wouter Vrancken. Genk lost their opening league game of the season champions Club Brugge, before going on to win 15 of their next 16 league games - drawing the other one for an unbeaten run of 16 - to go ten points clear of second-placed Union St-Gilloise by Christmas 2022.

Genk remained in touch at the top and lying in third place heading into the final day, needed a home win over league leaders Royal Antwerp to clinch the club their first title since 2019, with Union dropping points to Club Brugge. Heynen headed Genk in front with 15 minutes to go, but with Union leading Club Brugge 1-0 in Brussels, were set to finish second. However, Club equalised in the 90th minute and went ahead in stoppage time at Duden Park. With Genk still leading going into stoppage time, Hrynen's lead goal meant they were suddenly in pole position to win the league. However, Toby Alderweireld equalised in the 94th minute for Antwerp, denying Genk the crown.[9][10]

Heynen was named by Belgium national team coach Roberto Martinez in the preliminary Belgian squad of 55 ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but didn't make the plane for Qatar. A continuation in strong form saw big calls for Heynen and team-mate Mike Trésor to be capped by new national team coach Domenico Tedesco for his first games in charge against Sweden and Germany in March 2023,[11] but neither player was chosen.[12][13][14][15]

Heynen battled through a muscle injury to score a late equaliser away to KVC Westerlo to squeeze Genk into the 2023-24 title play-offs, but the damage inflicted ruled him out for the rest of the season. Without him, Genk finished fifth and were beaten in the European play-off final by Gent.

Heynen made his 300th appearance in all competitions for Genk in a 4-0 win over Dender on 22 September 2024, a win that put the club top of the table.[16]

Career statistics

As of match played 26 December 2024[1]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Genk 2015–16 Belgian Pro League 10 0 2 0 — 12 0
2016–17 Belgian Pro League 33 0 4 0 13[a] 1 50 1
2017–18 Belgian Pro League 10 0 1 0 — 11 0
2018–19 Belgian Pro League 35 5 2 0 7[a] 1 44 6
2019–20 Belgian Pro League 14 1 2 1 4[b] 0 20 2
2020–21 Belgian Pro League 29 2 4 0 0 0 33 2
2021–22 Belgian Pro League 38 5 2 0 7[c] 0 47 5
2022–23 Belgian Pro League 39 11 3 0 0 0 42 11
2023–24 Belgian Pro League 25 6 1 0 9[d] 2 35 8
2024–25 Belgian Pro League 18 0 1 0 — 19 0
Career totals 251 30 22 1 40 4 313 35
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and two goals in UEFA Conference League

Honours

Genk

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "B. Heynen: Summary". soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Genk vs. OH Leuven - 25 July 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  3. ^ "FT België 20/12. Bryan Heynen en Jere Uronen verlengen bij Genk - Pro League verscherpt bondsregels rond racisme en spreekkoren(Bryan Heynen and Jere Uronen extend at Genk)". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 20 December 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Van gróót nieuws tot een nieuwe sensatie: de tien Genkse sleutelmomenten richting delirium". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 16 May 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Jupiler Pro League 2018-19". Sporza (in Dutch). 25 May 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Racing Genk wins the Croky Cup". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 25 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  7. ^ "ONS RAPPORT. Twee uitblinkers bij Racing Genk, één buis bij Standard". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 25 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Reacties uit het winnende kamp: "Of ik dronken zal zijn? We zullen zien"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 25 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Royal Antwerp win first Belgian title in 66 years after Toby Alderweireld's stoppage-time equaliser". BBC. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Alderweireld earns Royal Antwerp first Belgian league title in 66 years". The Guardian. 4 June 2023.
  11. ^ Jackson, Ben (9 February 2023). "Domenico Tedesco must send the right message by calling up Mike Tresor". Get Football News. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Tedesco about missing Heynen/Trésor:"Close Call"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 17 March 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Genk-OHL:Heynen et Tresor répondent à Tedesco". footnews.be (in French). 2 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  14. ^ ""If you select 20 players, is it a huge shame that Trésor is not there?"". Sporza (in Dutch). 21 March 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Après la non-sélection de Heynen et Trésor chez les Diables, Genk dézingue l'Union belge : "Un manque de respect"". L'Avenir (in French). 17 March 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  16. ^ "'Mister 300' Bryan Heynen: "Tifo jammer genoeg te groot om thuis op te hangen"" ['Mister 300' Bryan Heynen: “Tifo unfortunately too big to hang at home”]. Het Belang van Limburg (in Dutch). 22 September 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Onuachu with an assist as Genk clinch Belgian Cup title after Standard Liege win". Goal. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.