Michel Vlap
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-06-02) 2 June 1997 (age 26)[1]
Place of birth Sneek, Netherlands[1]
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Twente
Number 18
Youth career
WSZ[2]
VV Sneek
SC Heerenveen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 SC Heerenveen 59 (20)
2019–2022 Anderlecht 34 (12)
2021 → Arminia Bielefeld (loan) 7 (1)
2021–2022 → Twente (loan) 34 (5)
2022– Twente 20 (0)
International career
2014–2015 Netherlands U18 5 (0)
2015–2016 Netherlands U19 5 (0)
2016 Netherlands U20 2 (0)
2018 Netherlands U21 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:25, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

Michel Vlap (Dutch [mɪˈxɛl ˈvlɑp]; born 2 June 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Twente. He has represented the Netherlands internationally at various youth levels.[3]

Club career

Heerenveen

Vlap is an academy graduate of Eredivisie side Heerenveen and is the son of academy coach and former player Jan Vlap.[4][5] Having progressed through the ranks of Heerenveen's youth academy, he signed his first professional contract on 17 February 2015, penning a three-year deal with the club.[6] He later featured for Heerenveen during the 2015–16 pre-season and scored a brace in the club's 8–1 victory over VV Heerenveen in new manager Jurgen Streppel's first match in charge of the club.[7][8] Vlap then made his senior debut for the club on 27 November 2016, coming on as a late, second-half substitute for Kosovar international Arber Zeneli in a 1–0 Eredivisie loss to Ajax.[9]

Vlap failed to appear again during the 2016–17 season but returned to the first team to make his KNVB Cup debut on 20 September 2017, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Excelsior.[10] He scored his first goal for the club the following month, netting in a 2–1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar.[11] On 3 December, he signed a new five-year contract with Heerenveen after impressing with a run of three goals in his previous five appearances for the club.[12] He ultimately scored four goals in 26 appearances across all competitions for the campaign.

He continued to feature for the club the following season and in October 2018, after scoring a league-high four goals in the month, won the Eredevise Player of the Month award.[13] By the end of the campaign, he had scored 16 goals and recorded six assists which earned him a transfer to Belgian side, Anderlecht.[14]

Anderlecht and loans

In February 2021, Vlap moved to Bundesliga team Arminia Bielefeld from Anderlecht, on a loan deal until the end of the season.[15] On 15 February, Vlap scored his first Bundesliga goal in the ninth minute of his debut, in a 3–3 away draw at Bayern Munich.

Twente

Vlap again moved on loan in August 2021, returning to the Eredivisie with Twente.[16] On 4 July 2022, Anderlecht and Twente agreed on a permanent transfer and Vlap signed a three-year contract.[17]

International career

Netherlands national youth teams

Vlap has represented Netherlands at both under-18 and under-19 level.[18] On 21 July 2016, while representing the Netherlands at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Vlap made history by becoming the first player ever to be brought on as a fourth substitute in a UEFA match when he replaced Laros Duarte in a 3–3 (5–4) penalty shoot-out loss to Germany. Regulations ordinarily allow a team to make three substitutions during a match but a trial allowing for a fourth substitution in extra-time was introduced by the International Football Association Board for the tournament.[19][20]

Career statistics

As of match played on 10 August 2021[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Heerenveen 2016–17 Eredivisie 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2017–18 Eredivisie 24 4 2 0 0 0 26 4
2018–19 Eredivisie 34 16 4 1 0 0 39 17
Total 59 20 6 1 0 0 65 21
Anderlecht 2019–20 First Division A 23 11 2 0 0 0 25 11
2020–21 First Division A 11 1 0 0 0 0 11 1
Total 34 12 2 0 0 0 36 12
Arminia Bielefeld (loan) 2020–21 Bundesliga 7 1 0 0 — 7 1
Career total 100 33 8 1 0 0 108 34

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c Michel Vlap at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  2. ^ MICHEL VLAP VAN SC HEERENVEEN NAAR ANDERLECHT, swzbososneek.nl, 5 July 2019
  3. ^ Bell, Michael (10 July 2016). "Profiling Netherlands U19 squad for European Championships". Football Oranje. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  4. ^ "SC Heerenveen-speler Michel Vlap naar EK onder 19". Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 7 July 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Michel Vlap debuteert bij SC Heerenveen". Groot Sneek. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  6. ^ "SC Heerenveen legt jeugdspeler Vlap vast". FC Update (in Dutch). 17 February 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Sterk begin van voorbereiding Heerenveen en Owusu-Abeyie". Voetbal International. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Jaroge Streppel wint met Heerenveen". Telegraaf (in Dutch). 25 June 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Heerenveen-debutant 'staat te shaken': "Echt een jongensdroom"". Soccer News Netherlands (in Dutch). 27 November 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  10. ^ "SBV Excelsior v SC Heerenveen Live Commentary". Goal. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  11. ^ McVitie, Peter (8 November 2017). "How is Real Madrid's Forgotten Wonderkid Performing in Holland?". Goal. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  12. ^ "Vlap tekent tot 2022 in Heerenveen". Fox Sports (Netherlands) (in Dutch). 8 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  13. ^ Stiensma, Sjoerd (2 November 2018). "Michel Vlap talent van de maand" (in Dutch). Sneeker Nieuwsblad. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  14. ^ Hick, Antoine (4 July 2019). "Mais qui est donc Michel Vlap, le nouveau renfort anderlechtois ?". RTFB. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  15. ^ Gjerulff, Rune (1 February 2021). "Official: Michel Vlap joins Bielefeld". Bulinews. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  16. ^ ten Voorde, Leon (10 August 2021). "Michel Vlap eindelijk speler van FC Twente: 'Ik wil niet zeggen dat ik mislukt ben'". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Michel Vlap maakt definitieve overstap naar FC Twente" (in Dutch). Twente. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Michel Vlap naar EK onder 19". Sneeker Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 25 June 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  19. ^ Haslam, Andrew (21 July 2016). "History made as teams bring on fourth substitutes". UEFA. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  20. ^ Haslam, Andrew (21 July 2016). "Germany edge Netherlands in play-off thriller". UEFA. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  21. ^ "Michel Vlap » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  22. ^ "Hakim Ziyech uitgeroepen tot Eredivisiespeler van de Maand | Eredivisie". eredivisie.nl. 2 November 2018.
  23. ^ "FC Twente main supplier in May's Eredivisie team of the Month April". Eredivisie. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

External links

FC Twente – current squad
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