The Belgian Pro League was the breeding ground for some of the most prominent central midfielders of the 2010s.
Mousa Dembélé (Beerschot), Marouane Fellaini (Standard Liège), and Kevin De Bruyne (KRC Genk) all started their professional football careers in the Belgian top flight and began their journey to showcase their talent on a grander stage.
Belgium’s top flight remains a notable source of top talent for sides in Europe’s top-five leagues.
Last summer, Manchester United dipped into the Belgian market to sign their new first-team goalkeeper, Senne Lammens, who has gone on to adapt well to the bright lights at Old Trafford in his first season.
This Belgian Pro League scout report focuses on three of the most interesting U23 central midfielders currently plying their trade in the Belgian top flight.
Our player analysis focuses on Kamiel Van de Perre, Mauricio Benítez, and Mathias Delorge and explains why teams in Europe’s top-five leagues should be looking at these three young talents via data analysis.
Kamiel Van De Perre Scout Report At Royale Union Saint-Gilloise 2025/2026
Figures 1-3 present key 2025/2026 data on Kamiel Van de Perre, Mauricio Benítez, and Mathias Delorge, respectively, including heat maps, position maps, height, weight, and percentile ranks for custom-built metrics derived from weighted combinations of Wyscout’s raw data.
The percentile ranks shown benchmark the midfielders’ respective performance in each of our nine metrics against that of other central midfielders who have played at least 600 minutes in the Belgian Pro League and leagues deemed to be of similar quality (the EFL Championship, the Dutch Eredivisie, the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Turkish Süper Lig) this season.
Van de Perre has accumulated the most minutes out of the three midfielders in this analysis, with 1477 this term.
He has been on the pitch for 59% of all possible Belgian Pro League minutes for the current Belgian top-flight leaders in 2025/2026.
He missed four games early in the season due to a back injury, and he also missed six games last season due to hamstring and arm injuries.
RUSG were also competing in the UEFA Champions League, for which data are not taken into account in this analysis.
In Europe’s elite competition, Van de Perre played 83% of all possible minutes for his club.
Figure 1 displays Kamiel Van de Perre’s data.
Kamiel Van De Perre Percentile Ranks 2025/2026
Kamiel Van de Perre performs above-average in our Final Third Access Score, Ball Retention Score, and Defensive Discipline Index.
At the same time, he records a strong ranking for Progressive Distribution and Verticality.
However, the 22-year-old is truly elite among his peers in our dataset for his volume of activity without the ball, as indicated by his extremely high percentile rank for Defensive Actions.
This combination of high-volume out-of-possession activity and respectable defensive discipline points to a midfielder who’s likely to make his presence known when his team doesn’t have the ball while, at the same time, avoiding reckless fouling.
He profiles as a proactive defensive midfielder who combines intensity with control.
As for the in-possession metrics, Kamiel Van de Perre’s high ranking in Progressive Distribution and Verticality suggests that once he regains possession or receives from a teammate, he tends to look forward quickly.
Kamiel Van de Perre’s position map and heat map indicate that he’s often tasked with dropping deep to receive the ball, while his data suggests that he’s quite comfortable playing the ball forward from those positions.
These traits make him a useful asset in the ball progression phase and in transitional moments.
His above-average Final-Third Access Score further supports this, pointing towards meaningful involvement in ball progression and helping his team access high-value areas of the pitch.
Kamiel Van de Perre’s worst scores come in Attacking Efficiency, Interception Intelligence, and Press Resistance.
The combination of poor press resistance and just above-average ball retention is representative of a player who struggles under high pressure in tight central zones.
Therefore, his profile is better suited to quick-transition systems rather than high-possession structures.
Meanwhile, Van de Perre’s weak interception intelligence suggests his defensive value comes more from duels and work rate than from anticipation.
Overall, Van de Perre profiles as an energetic, vertically oriented central midfielder whose primary strengths lie in defensive activity and forward intent.
He appears best suited to high-intensity systems that emphasise pressing and transition rather than deep, pressure-heavy build-up phases.
Mauricio Benítez Scout Report At Royal Antwerp 2025/2026
Figure 2 displays Mauricio Benítez’s data.
Benítez joined Royal Antwerp on a loan deal from Boca Juniors in February 2025.
His contract with Royal Antwerp is set to run until the end of this season.
At the time of writing, the Boca Juniors academy product has accumulated 1233 minutes in the Belgian Pro League for Royal Antwerp this term, so Benítez has been on the pitch for 43% of all possible league minutes, with the Argentinian having been out of action in 2026 thus far with a hamstring injury.
Royal Antwerp have lost five of their last seven league games, for which Mauricio Benítez has been out of action.
They’d won five of their seven before this run, all of which saw Benítez start.
This hamstring injury is the longest stretch that Mauricio Benítez has been sidelined thus far in his young career; if he can recover and get back on the pitch for a sustained period, any concerns around his availability will be largely alleviated, but it hasn’t been an encouraging 2026 on that front.
Mauricio Benítez Percentile Ranks 2025/2026
Still, Mauricio Benítez comfortably makes our list due to the quality he brings when he is on the pitch, particularly out of possession.
The 22-year-old ranks in the top 20% of our dataset for all our defensive metrics, indicating that he’s well capable of contributing significant defensive volume both in terms of duels and reading the game to make interceptions, without compromising structure.
He’s highly active in all defensive actions, measured and disciplined.
In possession, his numbers drop off, which immediately points to the kind of profile we’re dealing with.
His Press Resistance Score, Attacking Efficiency Score, and Ball Retention Index are all well below-average in the dataset.
This highlights low influence in the final third and vulnerability if tasked with receiving under high pressure.
Mauricio Benítez is comfortable operating as a ball-winning ‘6’ or ‘8’.
He’s not best-utilised as a build-up hub in a possession-heavy system, though.
Interestingly, his Verticality Index, Final-Third Access Score, and Progressive Distribution Score are solid, indicating a willingness to contribute to forward progression once possession is won.
Crucially, the numbers are not outstanding either, suggesting competence rather than excellence in those more positive in-possession metrics.
Top-five league sides looking for a defence-first central midfielder who combines volume duels, discipline and anticipation would do well to take a look at Mauricio Benítez, as he’s well-suited to systems that value midfield protection and structured transitions.
Paired with a more technically proficient partner who can assume more of those duties, Mauricio Benítez could form part of a highly competitive midfield.
Mathias Delorge Scout Report At KAA Gent 2025/2026
Figure 3 presents Mathias Delorge’s data.
At 21, Delorge is the youngest of our three midfielders.
The Belgium U21 international has also had less time on the pitch than the other two in this analysis in 2025/2026, with 1129 minutes accumulated at the time of writing.
This equates to 43% of his possible league minutes with Gent in 2025/2026.
Like Mauricio Benítez, he’s currently out of action due to an ankle injury, while he also missed a lengthy period back in 2022 due to a muscle injury.
With that said, the Sint-Truiden academy product who joined Gent in 2024 for €3m is undoubtedly one of the most exciting Belgian talents of his generation, and he fully deserves his place on our list.
Hopefully, he can put his injury issues behind him once he recovers from ankle surgery, as he’s a fantastic talent to watch.
Mathias Delorge Percentile Ranks 2025/2026
As well as being the youngest of our three midfielders, Delorge is the tallest at 189cm.
His profile is also by far the most well-rounded of the three.
In possession, Delorge is extremely secure and press resistant, unlike Benítez and Van de Perre, who presented vastly contrasting profiles.
He’s comfortable receiving under pressure, performing a central role in build-up, and controlling the game in tight central areas at a senior level despite his young age.
Of the three midfielders in our analysis, Mathias Delorge is the only one you’d trust dropping to be the first midfield receiver from the centre-backs in build-up, which is why you see so much more activity in the typical ‘solo 6’ position on Delorge’s heat map than that of Benítez or Van de Perre, who position themselves more heavily to one side.
Delorge is happy to put himself right in the line of fire, so to speak, actively seeking possession where he’s most likely to come under high pressure, trusting his ability to take the ball on the half-turn, escape pressure, and get his team moving forward.
His Final-Third Access Score and Progressive Distribution Score also sit at elite levels, which reinforces that Mathias Delorge doesn’t just recycle possession; he actively contributes to ball progression into advanced areas.
Out of possession, Mathias Delorge also contributes effectively, which boosts the value of his profile substantially.
His high ranking in our Interception Intelligence and Defensive Discipline metrics highlights his combination of discipline, technical security, and the ability to read the game.
His rank in Defensive Actions Index is more moderate, which is representative of the fact that he prefers to defend through anticipation rather than duel volume.
Mathias Delorge even posts a respectable ranking in Attacking Efficiency Score, indicating some goal contributions, though this isn’t the foundation of his game.
The only metric in which the 21-year-old posts below-average numbers is Verticality Index, which tells us about the nature of Delorge’s passing game; he’s selective rather than direct, prioritising structure and security over risk.
Mathias Delorge’s well-rounded profile is well-suited to a structured build-up, where composure and control are desirable.
His technical and mental abilities, combined with his size and physical capability, provide a strong foundation for further development into a potentially elite midfield option if he can put together a sustained run without injury.
Conclusion
The three midfield profiles outlined in this scout report exemplify why the Belgian Pro League remains an extremely valuable market for top-five-league sides to keep a close eye on in terms of recruitment.
Kamiel Van de Perre, Mauricio Benítez, and Mathias Delorge represent three very different young midfield profiles, each suited to distinct tactical environments but all showing desirable qualities.
Van de Perre’s defensive activity and verticality make him well-suited to high-intensity systems that prioritise pressing and transitions.
Benítez is a defence-first option who offers structure, discipline, and anticipation; his strengths lie in ball-winning and protection of space, making him appealing to teams seeking backline protection.
Delorge arguably has the highest ceiling, as well as the most balanced and technically refined profile of the three; he’s the one I’d personally be most excited about with his combination of technicality, mental composure, anticipation, and physicality.
His profile suits structured, possession-oriented systems where intelligence in tight, central areas is critical.
