Thomas Witsel

Central Midfielder - KV Oostende
20 Sep 2026
Sunday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 4 Transfers Relations Events 31 Awards 1 Matches History

Marked for Thomas Witsel

5 Edition

The KV Oostende Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings31 Aug 2026

Nothing got past Laurent Witsel

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 42 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad31 Aug 2026

Simon Hazard is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Simon Hazard: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Match26 Aug 2026

KV Oostende through in the cup

A 0‑0 win over KV Kortrijk, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Market31 Aug 2026

KV Oostende say no — this time

The offer from Ajax for Simon Hazard was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market31 Aug 2026

Leander Vertonghen hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Oostende can pretend not to have heard.

Squad31 Aug 2026

Tempers go at KV Oostende

Laurent Witsel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad31 Aug 2026

Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jason Denayer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad31 Aug 2026

The manager makes an example of Charles Carrasco

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings31 Aug 2026

Ninety minutes of Thomas Witsel at his very best

Marked 8.28. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at KV Oostende.

In brief

Back issues
4 Edition

The KV Oostende Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market24 Aug 2026

KV Oostende sell their best player to Newcastle United

$28.9M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.

Player ratings24 Aug 2026

Nothing got past Laurent Witsel

33 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

The terraces24 Aug 2026

KV Oostende sell a favourite for $28.9M

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Youri Hazard was one of the reasons people came, and $28.9M does not replace that by itself.

Market24 Aug 2026

Hans Doku hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Oostende can pretend not to have heard.

Market24 Aug 2026

KV Oostende say no — this time

The offer from OH Leuven for Toby Meunier was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market24 Aug 2026

Business is business: Christian Courtois goes

Anderlecht paid $2.1M and KV Oostende took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Player ratings24 Aug 2026

Yannick Witsel runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad24 Aug 2026

No hiding place for Thomas Witsel

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Witsel, and the manager let it.

The terraces24 Aug 2026

KV Oostende supporters have found a favourite in Simon Hazard

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Simon Hazard has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

3 Edition

The KV Oostende Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad17 Aug 2026

A one-man rearguard from Simon Hazard

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market17 Aug 2026

KV Oostende say no — this time

The offer from Benevento for Zinho Meunier was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

Nothing got past Jason Denayer

24 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Tempers go at KV Oostende

Laurent Witsel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

Nothing got past Lucas Vankerkhoven

23 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jason Denayer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match15 Aug 2026

Zinho Meunier sends KV Oostende past Standard Liege

It finished 1‑0, and it was Zinho Meunier’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to KV Oostende.

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

One of those days for Thomas Witsel

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad17 Aug 2026

No hiding place for Adnan Onana

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adnan Onana, and the manager let it.

In brief

2 Edition

The KV Oostende Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market10 Aug 2026

KV Oostende say no — this time

The offer from Palermo for Simon Hazard was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

Thomas Witsel runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Thomas Witsel signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thomas Witsel commits to KV Oostende for another 3 years.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Tempers go at KV Oostende

Laurent Witsel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

Nothing got past Lucas Vankerkhoven

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yannick Witsel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces10 Aug 2026

The crowd has taken to Youri Hazard

At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match8 Aug 2026

KV Oostende get the job done against Racing Genk

A 1‑0 win over Racing Genk, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Radja De Ketelaere gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief