Laurent Verbiest

Laurent Verbiest feels less like a forgotten defender and more like an unfinished argument. Anderlecht supporters called him Lorenzo Le Magnifique, and the nickname was not handed out for clearing balls into row Z with a civic sense of duty. He had the physique of a centre-back, the daring of a libero and enough technique to dribble out from defence in a way that was both thrilling and slightly hazardous for nearby blood pressure. Strong, quick and elegant, he could play centrally or at right-back, but his real identity was as a constructive defender, someone who turned defending into the first movement of attack. His performances for Anderlecht and Belgium suggested a player ahead of his domestic context, admired for style as much as authority. Then a car crash ended everything at 26, leaving behind the cruelest kind of reputation: the one that still feels incomplete.