Bryan Heynen

Bryan Heynen (born 6 February 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Genk. He plays as a midfielder.

Career
A creative midfielder, Heynen came through the youth system at K.R.C. Genk to make his Belgian Pro League debut on 25 July 2015 in a 3–1 home win against OH Leuven. He replaced Wilfred Ndidi after 66 minutes.

In his second season at the club, Heynen had an elongated run in the first team under Peter Maes at the age of 19 as Genk finished eighth.

Due to a serious knee injury that he sustained in training in November 2017, he did not play much in the 2017/2018 season, but was still offered a new five-year contract at the end of 2018.

With Philippe Clement now in charge, Heynen played all but five games as Genk stormed to the 2019 league title, the fourth in their history and their first for eight years.

Clement's departure for Club Brugge saw a period of instability and major change off the pitch as the club hired four first-team coaches in the space of 15 months - Felice Mazzu, Hannes Wolf, Jess Thorup and finally John van den Brom.

With Heynen now appointed captain by Mazzu, he featured in Genk's early UEFA Champions League exit in 2019-20 having been paired with Liverpool, Napoli and a Salzburg side containing Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino.

When Thorup departed for FC Copenhagen in his native Denmark after six games, Genk finally found stability for the 2020-21 season under van den Brom, finishing runners-up behind Club Brugge in the League, and winning the 2020-21 Belgian Cup with Heynen as captain, beating Standard Liege 2-1 in the final.

After a disappointing campaign the following season where defensive frailty saw van den Brom dismissed mid-season, and Bernd Storck only able to guide Genk to the 2022 Belgian Pro League's European play-offs, Heynen's form surged under the tenureship of new coach Wouter Vrancken. Genk lost their opening league game of the season champions Club Brugge, before going on to win 15 of their next 16 league games - drawing the other one for an unbeaten run of 16 - to go ten points clear of second-placed Union St-Gilloise by Christmas 2022.

Heynen was named by Belgium national team coach Roberto Martinez in the preliminary Belgian squad of 55 ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but didn't make the plane for Qatar. A continuation in strong form saw big calls for Heynen and team-mate Mike Trésor to be capped by new national team coach Domenico Tedesco for his first games in charge against Sweden and Germany in March 2023, but neither player was chosen.

Honours
Genk
 * Belgian First Division A: 2018–19
 * Belgian Cup: 2020–21