So many world class players from Belgium have lit up England’s top flight division, but how many have won the greatest accolade of all? Here is a list of Belgian footballers to have won the Premier League title.
All the Belgian players to win the EPL
Kevin De Bruyne
Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne joined Manchester City from VFL Wolfsburg in 2015, and he was a driving force in his club’s dominance of the EPL from that point. At the end of the 2022/23 season, he had claimed five Premier League winners medals.
With City continuing to dominate English football at the highest level, there’s every chance Kevin De Bruyne will add to that list of titles before he moves on to his next challenge.
Vincent Kompany
Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany was a teammate of Kevin De Bruyne’s for much of his English career. He arrived at the club from SV Hamburg in 2008, and would eventually become a respected captain of the side.
Kompany’s first Premier League title came at the end of the 2011/12 season as City finally ended their rivals Manchester United’s run of dominance. He added three more winners medals in 2014, 2018 and 2019 before moving back to his native Belgium with his first club, Anderlecht.
Thibaut Courtois
Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois became his country’s youngest ever international goalkeeper when he made his debut for the senior side at the age of 19. He had made his name with Genk where his performances between the posts persuaded Chelsea to make a big money move in 2011.
Courtois spent three years on loan at Atletico Madrid, but returned to Chelsea to make the keeper’s position his own. During his time in West London, Thibaut Courtois won the Premier league twice, in 2015 and 2017.
Eden Hazard
Attacking midfielder Eden Hazard played alongside Thibaut Courtois at Chelsea, and was part of the same squads that won the Premier League in 2014/15 and 2016/17. Hazard had proved his quality for the Belgian national side before the Blues paid Lille £32 million for his services.
The player quickly adapted to English football, scoring vital goals and laying on assists for the main strikers. Eden Hazard also won FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League medals during his time with Chelsea.
Ritchie De Laet
Defender De Laet began his career with Royal Antwerp before joining Manchester United from Stoke City in 2009. He stayed at Old Trafford for three years, but was loaned out to four different clubs and only made three league appearances for the Red Devils.
Just as it seemed he would never settle in England, Ritchie De Laet joined Leicester City in 2012 and spent the next four years at the King Power Stadium. He became part of the Foxes squad that pulled off the greatest shock in the Premier League era, as they won the title at the end of the 2015/16 campaign.
De Laet made 12 appearances that season, which was enough to claim a winner’s medal.
Michy Batshuayi
While he struggled to nail down a regular place in the Chelsea team, Belgian international striker Michy Batshuayi can always boast that he has a Premier League winner’s medal. He joined the Blues from Marseille in 2016, but was sent out on loan five times before signing for Fenerbahce in a permanent deal in 2022.
Batshuayi made only 48 league appearances for Chelsea, but twenty of those came in their title winning season of 2016/17. He scored five goals in that campaign to join the list of Belgian players with a Premier League winner’s medal.
Divock Origi
Divock Origi was another player who was used sparingly by his club. He joined Liverpool from Lille in 2014 and would stay at Anfield until 2022. Over eight years, he only made 107 appearances for the Merseyside outfit.
Origi was mostly used as an impact substitute and scored memorable goals in the 2019 Champions League final, and a dramatic late winner against Everton in a Merseyside Derby. One of his busiest seasons was 2019/20, when he played in 28 league games. He only scored four goals, but this was the campaign when Liverpool won the title and, as such, Divock Origi has a Premier League winner’s medal.
Conclusion
At the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season, seven Belgian players had won the Premier League and this is the full list. There are no real surprises on there, with the possible exception of Ritchie de Laet.
In the main, these are world class players who featured for some of the most successful clubs of the Premier League era. There’s always room for more players to come along and add their names to the list, so who will be the next Belgian footballer to win a Premier League title?
