Moroccan prodigy Ilyes Bennane forced to leave his club

As of April 1st, Genk will no longer have Ilyes Bennane in its squad. On February 27, the young player’s family notified the Belgian club of the teenager’s disaffiliation. A departure caused by a difference of opinion between the Limburg management and the family of the young talent. "It’s a choice made to protect our values. We put a lot of energy into Ilyes’ development and management. He’s a boy with exceptional qualities, but there, it wasn’t working anymore. His family has its own ideas and it was better to separate," explains Koen Daerden, technical director of the academy, to La Dernière Heure.

Samir, the young player’s father, provided more details on this divorce. "Ilyès is very talented, but he has the physique of a child his age," he explains. "When he arrived at 9 years old at Genk, his double promotion was not a problem. But there, playing with the U15s, he started to face very powerful guys, sometimes like adults." And to continue: "It was becoming dangerous for Ilyes’ health and I asked Genk to drop him, from the 2009 generation to the 2010 generation. But the club didn’t want to, because its 2010 generation isn’t performing well enough compared to Ilyes’ talent (NdlR: born in 2011). We then started listening to the project of other teams."

Ilyes will now have to find a new club. Clubs like Lille, Ajax and Real Madrid have shown interest in him, but he will not be able to play abroad for the time being due to the latest FIFA regulations. According to this, players under 16 years old cannot sign abroad. "Ilyes will play in Belgium, but the choice has not yet been made," adds the father, without providing further details. "It will be Anderlecht or Club Bruges," a source close to the case affirms with certainty.

For now, Ilyès is focusing on the friendly match between the Atlas Lions and Zambia scheduled for Sunday. After abandoning the Belgian team for Morocco to the general surprise, he is currently in Morocco where he is participating in the preparatory gathering of the under-15 national team. Until last February, he was the earliest Belgian international of all time.