Michaël Heylen (born 3 January 1994) is a Belgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club Emmen.

Club career

Heylen joined

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

in 2007 from

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

. As a 16-year-old he was diagnosed with

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...

. However, he made it to the reserve team and became its captain. In 2013, Anderlecht decided to loan Heylen out to

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

for the 2013–14 season. He made his full debut at 14 September 2013 against

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, a ...

in a 3–0 home win. On 6 July 2022, Heylen returned to Emmen on a two-year deal.

International career

In August 2016 he was asked to train with the senior

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

squad by new manager

Roberto Martinez The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heylen, Michael 1994 births Living people Men's association football central defenders Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers R.S.C. Anderlecht players K.V. Kortrijk players K.V.C. Westerlo players S.V. Zulte Waregem players FC Emmen players Sparta Rotterdam players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands