Euro 2024: The making of Belgium and Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard – BBC Sport

Flair, pace and ice-cold composure.

In Leandro Trossard, Belgium and Arsenal seem to be blessed with a world class forward.

He is also an anomaly; a late bloomer. At 29 he has only recently broken through as a regular for his national team.

Speak to those who knew him as a teenager and a vibe emerges.

Yes, he was “gifted on the ball”, and yes, he made defenders “go crazy with his technique”. But, at 16, he was a small boy playing at a small academy in an even smaller league.

To go from there to where he is now 13 years later – essentially Eden Hazard’s replacement in Belgium’s starting XI – is almost unbelievable.

Trossard ended last season, his second with Arsenal, in brilliant form; netting six goals across his final 10 matches – games that were taking place in a white-hot title race.

Those who grew up with him are not surprised with his late, rapid rise. As a 14-year-old, with his grandfather at his side, Trossard signed for Bocholter VV, a club on the Dutch border in the nation’s third division in the under-15s pyramid.

“He was so small and without any sort of ego, but on the pitch he was different,” remembered Bocholter’s current goalkeeper Stijn Wertelaers, Trossard’s former team-mate and friend.

“His first season was totally mad and that year he directly made us champions. It was crazy what he could do with the ball and his scoring level was incredible.”

After two seasons Bocholter tried to convince 15-year-old Trossard to stay by offering him a spot in the first team. Instead, with seemingly half the Belgian Pro League after his signature, the forward turned to the region’s biggest club – Genk.

Wertelaers would reunite with his friend in 2010, as back-up goalkeeper in Genk’s youth team behind Thibaut Courtois.

In training Wertelaers was facing shots from Kevin de Bruyne and Christian Benteke. And there, in that all-star squad, Trossard was holding his own.

“At that age me and my friends wanted to drink beer and experience our first parties,” added Wertelaers. “Trossard wasn’t that interested. He was always so focused on football.

“It was frustrating facing him as a goalkeeper because he was already so gifted with the ball.”

While De Bruyne and Courtois headed to Chelsea, Trossard stayed and at age 24 captained Genk to their first league title in eight seasons.

At moments last season he looked ludicrously talented, beating players with his low centre of gravity and superb dribbling skills.

“That’s the story of his whole career – you don’t think he will reach the next level but he hits the top every time,” added Wertelaers.

“I played with all those players, De Bruyne and Courtois, but Leandro’s path from the third division at 16 to Arsenal now is the craziest I’ve seen.”

It feels like Trossard’s journey is one celebrated by the whole municipality of Bocholt, tucked away in the north-east corner of Belgium.

“He is almost impossible for us to comprehend,” said Bocholter VV board member Chris Kwanten.

“We’re a pretty small club in a small country. Genk and Anderlecht is a huge level for us.

“We can barely picture the size of a club like Arsenal. Seeing him play for the national team against the very best teams in the world, we are very, very proud of that.”

Like Trossard, the Belgium team has also come a long way over the past two decades.

The Red Devils were held to draws by Kazakhstan in 2006 and 2007. They ended a 12-year absence from major tournaments when they reached the World Cup in 2014.

Now there is an expectation. Belgium have reached the quarter-finals of the past two European Championships. They were in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, and – somewhat unforgivably – were knocked out in the group stage in Qatar.

Roberto Martinez was the manager then. The federation is now pinning its hopes on former RB Leipzig boss Domenico Tedesco.

Trossard, who was in Belgium’s last Euros squad, is very much Tedesco’s man having started four of their past five matches.

So will Hazard’s heir apparent and his team-mates finally deliver silverware to a nation of 12 million?

“I’ll be watching the games with my friends who also played with Trossard at Bocholter,” said Wertelaers.

“When he scores the winner it will be incredible. Not just for him or for Belgium, but for all of us.”