Leander Dendoncker (born 15 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as either a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Serie A club Napoli, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa, and the Belgium national team.
2009
Dendoncker joined Anderlecht in 2009 and made his professional debut in July 2013, going on to play 171 matches and score eleven goals for the club as well as winning two Belgian Super Cups and a Belgian Pro League title.
Dendoncker transferred from K.S.V. Roeselare to R.S.C. Anderlecht in 2009, choosing that club ahead of Standard Liège, Club Brugge and K.R.C. Genk.
2010
He made his 100th competitive appearance for the club in an FA Cup 4th Round tie away to non-league Chorley the following 22 January, a game Wolves won 1–0.
He scored his first goal of the 2020–21 season at home to West Ham United in a 3–2 loss on 5 April 2021.
He scored his first goal in the 2021–22 Premier League season in 2–0 win away to Tottenham Hotspur on 13 February 2022.
On 1 September 2022, Dendoncker moved to fellow West Midlands-based Premier League club Aston Villa for a fee of around £13 million.
2013
After performances for the youth team in the NextGen Series and a training camp in Turkey, he was incorporated into the first team in January 2013.
He models his game on that of the Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets.
He made his professional debut on 21 July in the 2013 Belgian Super Cup, replacing Dennis Praet for the final nine minutes of the 1–0 win over Genk at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium.
2014
However, it was not until 1 August 2014 that he debuted in the Belgian Pro League, on the first day of the season away to KV Oostende.
He played six matches in the 2014–15 Belgian Cup, which his team lost 2–1 in the final to Brugge.
2015
Dendoncker made his senior international debut for Belgium in June 2015 and was part of their squad that finished third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, also featuring at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
After scoring his first professional goal on 18 January 2015 in a 3–0 win at Lierse S.K., Dendoncker was praised by former Anderlecht player Paul Van Himst, who said that there was no better player at his position in the club.
He made his debut 15 days later, as a 67th-minute substitute for Jacob Ramsey in a 1–0 home victory over Southampton.
He was mainly used as a substitute in his first season, and missed out on games altogether manager Unai Emery saying that it was because of "a problem at home"; he was absent from all of March 2023 with a hand injury.
Dendoncker scored his first goal for Aston Villa on 26 December 2023, opening a 3–2 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
On 26 January 2024, Dendoncker was sent to Serie A club Napoli on loan until the end of the season.
It was reported that the Italian club had the option to buy Dendoncker for around £8m at the end of the loan.
Dendoncker made his Napoli debut on 28 January, in a 0–0 draw at Lazio.
Dendoncker was first called up for the Belgium national football team on 22 May 2015 by manager Marc Wilmots, along with his Anderlecht teammate Youri Tielemans.
He made his debut on 7 June in a friendly game away to France, replacing Jason Denayer for the final five minutes of a 4–3 win.
2016
On 26 September, he extended his contract until 2016.
Anderlecht won the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A.
Dendoncker scored five goals along the way, including two on 18 December in a 4–0 home win over K.A.S. Eupen.
He also played all 16 games in their European campaign that season, which ended with elimination by eventual winners Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League.
2017
In the first leg of that tie on 13 April 2017, he scored a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw.
2018
In 2018, he signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan, before transferring permanently for €15 million.
After making 159 appearances and scoring twelve goals for the club, Dendoncker moved to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa in September 2022 for an undisclosed fee.
On 9 August 2018, Dendoncker moved to newly promoted English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers on an initial season-long loan with an obligation on Wolves to make the player a permanent Wolves signing in summer 2019.
He made his debut on 28 August in the second round of the EFL Cup away to Sheffield Wednesday (2–0 victory), with coach Nuno Espírito Santo making nine changes from the previous game.
In late September, The Football Association rejected the obligatory purchase clause in Dendoncker's Wolves contract and made his deal permanent for €15 million.
On 4 June 2018, manager Roberto Martínez named Dendoncker in Belgium's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
He made his tournament debut on 29 June in a 1–0 win over England at the Kaliningrad Stadium, with both teams fielding unfamiliar teams having already advanced to the last 16.
2019
He finally made a league appearance on 5 December in a 2–1 win against Chelsea, playing the final nine minutes in place of goalscorer Raúl Jiménez, and scored his first Premier League goal on his sixth appearance in the competition, in a 1–3 win at Everton on 2 February 2019.
Dendoncker committed a foul in the Wolves penalty area with just 180 seconds remaining of their April 2019 FA Cup semi-final with Watford while leading 2–1, thereby conceded the penalty that enabled the opponents to draw the game and then win in extra time.
On 4 May he scored the only goal of a home win over Fulham, which enabled Wolves to make the Europa League as a result of Watford losing the cup final.
Dendoncker became a permanent Wolves signing on 1 July 2019, his original loan agreement having included an obligation on the club to sign him permanently at the end of the original season-long loan period.
Following the introduction of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) by the Premier League for the 2019–20 season, he was the first Wolves player to have a 'goal' ruled out using VAR in a league match during Wolves' opening fixture away to Leicester City on 11 August.
2020
On 14 December 2020, it was announced by Wolverhampton Wanderers that Dendoncker had extended his contract with the club until 2023, with an option of a further twelve months available to the club.
