South African teenage sensation Shandre Campbell has been called up to the Club Brugge first team after impressing in the club’s feeder team, Club NXT.
The 19-year-old has made rapid progress in his first six months with the Belgian giants, having made a move to Europe in July last year.
The former SuperSport United attacker made an immediate impact, scoring six goals and providing one assist in just 13 Challenger Pro League matches.
During the club’s media day in Durban, the Matsatsantsa CEO Stan Matthews revealed that Club Brugge CEO informed him Campbell had been promoted to the first team.
CAMPBELL TRAINING FULL-TIME WITH CLUB BRUGGE FIRST TEAM
“People will say, you let Shandre go too early,” said Matthews.
“So, yes, from a traditional football point of view, we would love to have kept Shandre for another two or three seasons.
“And maybe he would have been even worth more money by then. But the acceleration that he’s showing in Europe right now…he’s just been called up from the second team to the main team of Brugge.
“The Brugge CEO actually called me this morning [Friday, 31 January 2025] to tell me that Shandre has been promoted to the first team after five goals and two assists for the feeder team.
“And now he’s training full-time with Brugge first team.”
Further, Matthews stated that SuperSport will receive a share of any future transfer fees when Campbell is sold by Club Brugge.
‘OUR PERCENTAGE SALE ON SHANDRE COULD BE WORTH MILLIONS’
“A player like Shandre in two, three years time could be worth 30, 40, 50 million euros,” he added.
“So, although we’re not getting anything now and we’re paying the price and it’s tough but in two three years time, our percentage sale on Shandre could be worth literally dozens of millions, which is great for the club.”
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