Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Anthony Vanden Borre to discuss decision to retire with Anderlecht

Anderlecht officials will meet with Anthony Vanden Borre next week after the Belgium international stunned the club by announcing his decision to retire from football.

Vanden Borre, 29, who had been spending the season on loan at Montpellier, made public his decision to hang up his boots with immediate effect on Tuesday, despite having 18 months still left on his Anderlecht contract.

Anderlecht general manager Herman Van Holsbeeck told La Derniere Heure that he will sit down with the defender, who joined the Belgian club at the age of eight, in the coming days. 

"We'll talk, but he's already told me he wants to terminate his contract, which still has 18 months to run," Van Holsbeeck said. "I'll also talk about the human aspect of it. If he's done that, it's because he must have gone far mentally, because he loves football.

"We haven't discussed offering him a position at the club, but Anthony is a child of Sporting [Anderlecht] and we'll do everything to help him. I'll ask him how he sees his new life and we'll see what we can do."

Vanden Borre played for Anderlecht until 2007, returning to the Brussels club in 2013 after playing in Italy for Fiorentina and Genoa, as well as in England at Portsmouth and Ukraine at Tavriya Simferopol. He featured for Belgium at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Van Holsbeeck added: "My memory of him will be one of a huge waste. When I came to the club, there were two players who were head and shoulders above everyone else: [Vincent] Kompany and him. Vincent became one of the best players in the world while Anthony always had problems, often off the pitch. It's a shame."

Vanden Borre made 10 Ligue 1 appearances for Montpellier this season, but had not featured for the 2012 French champions since a two-minute substitute cameo in their win over Marseille in November.

"I want to know who brought this player here because he was a bad player," Montpellier's outspoken owner Louis Nicollin said. "Anyway, I don't believe in his retirement. It's a load of rubbish. He just wants to be free to sign where he wants."

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