Matz Sels

Matz Sels

With Gent in 2015
Personal information
Full name Matz Willy E. Sels[1]
Date of birth (1992-02-26) 26 February 1992
Place of birth Lint, Belgium
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Anderlecht
(on loan from Newcastle United)
Number 1
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2014 Lierse 30 (0)
2014–2016 Gent 84 (0)
2016– Newcastle United 9 (0)
2017– → Anderlecht (loan) 0 (0)
National team
2009 Belgium U17 2 (0)
2009–2010 Belgium U18 8 (0)
2010–2011 Belgium U19 5 (0)
2012–2014 Belgium U21 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2017.

Matz Willy E. Sels (born 26 February 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Anderlecht on loan from Newcastle United.

Club career

Lierse SK

Sels started his youth career at Kontich, but transferred to Lierse at the age of seven. Over there, he started in 2010 in the first team. After the departure of Eiji Kawashima to Standard Liège in the summer of 2012, Sels became the first choice keeper. In his first game in the First Division, on 29 July 2012 against Gent, he saved a penalty. At the start of the 2013–2014 season, when he refused to sign a new contract, he was demoted to the second team.

KAA Gent

On 31 December 2013, it was announced that Sels would complete a transfer to KAA Gent once the transfer window opened. He would become the number one goalkeeper as Frank Boeckx's contract was due to expire at the end of the season. Sels made his debut for AA Gent on 14 January 2014 against K.V. Kortrijk, in the quarter finals of the Belgian Cup. He helped AA Gent qualify for the next round after penalties; with the game ending 1–1 on aggregate.

Sels played a key role in helping AA Gent become champions of the 2014–15 Belgian Pro League; the first national championship in their club history. This triumph allowed AA Gent to qualify for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League.

On his Champions League debut Sels dramatically saved an Alexandre Lacazette penalty to help his side secure a 1–1 draw with Olympique Lyonnais.[2] On 13 January 2016 he was voted Best Goalkeeper of Belgium 2015.[3]

Newcastle United

On 29 June 2016, Sels completed a transfer to Newcastle United on a five-year contract for a reported transfer fee of £6.5 million. Sels made his Newcastle debut in the Championship on 5 August against Fulham.[4] Sels kept a run of four clean sheets spanning 20 August to 13 September.[5] Sels came under considerable fire from Newcastle fans for allowing a late equaliser from Aaron Tshibola at Aston Villa on 24 September.[6] Despite receiving endorsement from manager Rafa Benítez during the week,[7] Sels lost his place in the lineup to Karl Darlow against Norwich City on 28 September.[8] His displacement from the lineup also received notable media coverage in his native Belgium.[9] When Newcastle's next League Cup tilt came up, it was Sels who got the start, enjoying a clean sheet in a 6–0 victory over Preston North End on 25 October.[10]

Anderlecht (loan)

On 22 June 2017, Sels signed for Anderlecht on a season-long loan.[11]

International career

Sels was called up to the Belgium squad in October 2015 for Euro 2016 qualifiers against Andorra and Israel.[12]

Statistics

As of match played 22 July 2017[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lierse SK 2010–11 Belgian Pro League 1000——10
2011–12 Belgian Pro League 0000——00
2012–13 Belgian Pro League 30010——310
Total 31010——320
KAA Gent 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 15030——180
2014–15 Belgian Pro League 39060——450
2015–16 Belgian Pro League 30050—80430
Total 840140—801060
Newcastle United 2016–17 Championship 903020—140
Anderlecht (loan) 2017–18 First Division A 0000—1[lower-alpha 1]010
Career total 124018020901530
  1. ↑ Appearance in the Belgian Super Cup

Honours

KAA Gent
Newcastle United F.C.
Anderlecht

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Retained List 2016-17" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Nine-man Gent claim heroic 1-1 draw with Lyon in Group H". Guardian. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Matz Sels weer trapje hoger: Beste doelman van 2015". HLN. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Starforth, Miles (5 August 2016). "Matz Sels starts in goal for Newcastle at Fulham". The Shields Gazette.
  5. ↑ Robertson, Jim (24 September 2016). "The case of Matz Sels is a strange one". The Mag.
  6. ↑ Banerjee, Rohan (25 September 2016). "Newcastle United goalkeeper Matz Sels deletes Twitter account after abuse from angry supporters". Mirror.
  7. ↑ "Rafa Benitez backs goalkeeper Matz Sels after error". Sky Sports. 27 September 2016.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Scott (28 September 2016). "Newcastle boss drops Matz Sels for Norwich game". The Northern Echo.
  9. ↑ Douglas, Mark (4 October 2016). "Matz Sels is down, but not out - how Newcastle goalkeeper plans to revive his United career". The Chronicle.
  10. ↑ "Coach én fans lovend voor herboren Matz Sels: "Alles positief aan zijn match"" [Coach and fans laud reborn Matz Sels: "Everything positive in his match"]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 26 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Easterby, Tom (22 June 2017). "Sels makes Anderlecht loan move". Newcastle United F.C.
  12. ↑ "Belgium make sweeping changes for Euro 2016 double-header". Sky Sports. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "M. SELS". Soccereway. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
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