Former Leicester City, Fulham and Brighton midfielder returns to boyhood club from lower reaches of Belgian football after retirement

Although he may have retired from professional football, Anthony Knockaert has not yet decided to hang up his boots completely. The mercurial winger will play in the lower reaches of Belgian football next season with Mouscron, the Phoenix club of the defunct Royal Excelsior Mouscron. Stade Mouscronnois was established in 2022 to ensure the city would still have a football team and currently plays at the bottom of the Belgian football pyramid. The former team ceased operations in 2022 after being relegated from the Pro League the previous season.

Knockaert, from across the border in Roubaix, trained with Mouscron as a youngster before joining the Guingamp youth system. He played for Leicester and Brighton where he had the biggest impact. He also played half a season with Standard Liege, his only time in Belgian football. Last year he left Fulham to play in the French second tier with Valenciennes FC, who were later relegated to the third tier of French football.

After retiring, he returns to the side where he started playing football.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson