An 18-Year-Old Goalkeeper Sold for €33 Million: How Did This Small City Become a Goalkeeper Factory?

Liverpool signed 18-year-old goalkeeper Luca Bruhmans for a transfer fee of €33 million, setting a record as the most expensive teenage goalkeeper in history. Chelsea signed another Belgian goalkeeper, Mike Penders, in June 2025 for a transfer fee of €20 million. The two players share one thing in common: they both came through Genk's youth academy.

From a coal mining town to a goalkeeper factory

Genk is located in northwestern Belgium, near the Dutch border, and was once a coal mining area. The coal industry has disappeared, but another “vein” has been opened. Seventeen years ago, 19-year-old Thibaut Courtois emerged from Genk's youth system and joined Chelsea in 2011 for €9 million. He later won two Champions League titles and six league titles. Genk also developed Maarten Vandevoordt, the youngest goalkeeper in Champions League history at the time, when he was only 17 years and 287 days old. He is now 24 and the first-choice goalkeeper for RB Leipzig.

A teacher who changed Genk's goalkeeper development

The person who connects these names is called Guy Martens. His connection with Genk can be traced back nearly 35 years. As a young player, Martens trained in the youth system of Waterschei SV Thor, a predecessor club of Genk, but he considered his own playing talent to be limited and decided to become a teacher instead. He taught physical education at a local secondary school for ten years while also coaching youth teams part-time. In 1990, he met Pol Peters, Genk's goalkeeper coach at the time. When Peters left, he recommended Martens, helping him enter the first-team coaching staff.

Martens said he made many mistakes at the beginning because he was only 35 years old and had not received formal goalkeeper coaching education, meaning he had to learn everything from scratch. Like Peters, he was heavily influenced by Dutch club Ajax, especially Ajax goalkeeper coach Frans Hoek.

The training philosophy behind the “3D goalkeeper”

Genk's youth academy is now regarded as one of Europe's top goalkeeper production lines. Bruhmans joined Liverpool for €33 million, Penders joined Chelsea for €20 million, while Courtois and Vandevoordt have already established themselves in Europe's top leagues. These goalkeepers share the common label of “3D” — a concept derived from Martens' breakdown of goalkeeper abilities, emphasizing that goalkeepers are not only responsible for saves, but also for distribution, positioning and spatial awareness.

Genk does not have a large population, but the club has turned goalkeeper development into a sustainable production system. From Courtois to Vandevoordt, and then to Bruhmans and Penders, the transfer values of Genk goalkeepers have continued to rise, and the club has continued to benefit from this development pipeline.