Tom De Sutter

De Sutter started his football activities at his local team KVV Balegem, where he was discovered by third division side Standaard Wetteren. From there, he moved to Club Brugge where he couldn't manage to get a place in the first team, so he moved back to a team in the third division, KM Torhout 1992 this time. De Sutter only stayed there for one top-scoring season, as he was discovered by Clubs city rivals, Cercle Brugge, after a friendly match in which De Sutter scored a hat-trick. At Cercle, he managed a breakthrough almost immediately, scoring in his first official match against Excelsior Mouscron. On 27 November 2007, De Sutter scored 4 goals in 21 minutes in a Belgian Cup game, playing away against KV Mechelen. In the next round, his goal decided the derby against Cercles main rival Club Brugge, one of De Sutter's former youth teams. The stronger and stronger performances by De Sutter didn't go unnoticed during the 2007–08 mid season break. De Sutter raised the interest from RSC Anderlecht and Trabzonspor, and he was voted Best Player of the First Half of the Season by Belgian football fans and media. He also made an unexpected third place in the Golden Shoe election of 2007. On 1 February, Cercle Brugge announced that after the cup match at home against Standard Liège, in which De Sutter scored the final 4–1 goal, Cercle received some bids for De Sutter. The highest bid was rumoured to be one of € 7.5 million from Zenit Saint Petersburg, although head coach Dick…

De Sutters performances were also noticed by Jean-François De Sart, the Belgian national under-21 coach, selecting him for the team after his transfer from Cercle. He was part of the squad that qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Honours

R.S.C. Anderlecht Belgian First Division: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13 Belgian Supercup: 2010, 2012 Club Brugge Belgian Cup (1): 2014–15