Second most valuable Belgian
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When Liverpool face RB Leipzig in the Champions League this Wednesday, they will have to try to contain a player who could lead the next golden generation of Belgian footballers: Loïs Openda. The 24-year-old, who has been compared to none other than the former exceptional talent Didier Drogba, is in his second season with the Saxons and has scored five goals and two assists in ten competitive games so far. Since his 40 million euro move to Leipzig in 2023, Openda has 33 goals and nine assists in 55 games.
In view of these figures, Openda, the second most valuable Belgian footballer with a market value of 60 million euros, is preparing to become one of the new leading players at national team level. For the Red Devils he has been directly involved in five goals in 24 appearances so far. “To be honest, I played with the golden generation and it was crazy how many good players we had,” Openda said in an interview with Transfermarkt. “But I think their time is over and we have a new generation that can also become a golden generation if we work as hard as they did. But we have to develop our own game. We now have a new team with young players and a new energy, which we also need to win games.”
With a squad value of 483.25 million euros, Belgium has the tenth most valuable national team in the world. In addition to Openda, coach Domenico Tedesco’s team also includes up-and-coming offensive players such as Malick Fofana (19, Olympique Lyon), Cyril Ngonge (24, Napoli), Johan Bakayoko (21, PSV) and Jérémy Doku (22, Man City).
Belgium has struggled recently and has been waiting for a win for three duels. The last two tournaments also ended early, at the European Championships in Germany in the round of 16 and at the World Cup in Qatar after the preliminary round. Openda cannot say how long it will take for Belgium to become a permanent fixture in world football again. “Maybe it will take us a while to get better because we have new players now and we need to find a good team. Sometimes it’s difficult, but the established forces like Roma (Lukaku), Kevin (De Bruyne), Leandro (Trossard) teach us how we have to be when we play for our national team.
Apart from a gold medal at the 1920 Olympics, Belgium has never won a trophy at an international tournament. Could this series end soon? “That would be good because every team wants to win a big trophy,” said Openda. “I won titles with Leipzig and FC Brugge and I think every player who comes into the national team wants that too. If you are the first to win a trophy with the national team, everyone will remember you and that is what we want.”
RB Leipzig’s Openda sees development as far from complete
As with the national team, Openda sees his development as far from complete, even if he describes it as “very good”. “I wanted to be here (at RB Leipzig) because I knew that you have to take this step if you want to move up and become a better player.” His next goal on the way to becoming a top player is therefore to score a lot of goals and to be on the pitch as often as possible to help the team. A good start would be to score his first goal of this premier class season on Wednesday evening against the Reds.
