The story behind Ukrainian striker Danylo Sikan’s move to Anderlecht

It looks like Ukrainian striker Danylo Sikan will be out for the season. The striker, who joined Anderlecht for €4m in January, has struggled to make himself a first team regular since making the move. Now, as reported by HLN, he is set to miss the rest of the season with pubalgia. Now, the paper have also revealed more about how the transfer came to take place, and it clearly highlights the disconnect between head coach and those in player recruitment positions.

Anderlecht hardly have much money to play with, so spending what for them was a substantial amount of Sikan was a risk. What is more, in an interview with HLN, Besnik Hasi, now former Anderlecht head coach, claimed that he was against the signing at the time. When asked if he wanted the club to sign Sikan, Hasi said ‘Not at the end of the summer, not in the winter. Not at all‘. There had been hopes that Sikan would return to the form he had shown at Shakthar Donetsk, where he scored 29 goals in 93 games. In January 2025 he moved to Tranbzonspor, where he managed seven goals in 34 games.

Now former Sporting Director Olivier Renard spoke about the transfer from his point of view. Renard wanted Sikan to join in the summer on loan with an option to buy, but they weren’t able to agree a deal with Trabzonspor. By the time Sikan was available, the Turkish side only wanted to sell him. According to HLN, there were already some red flags around Sikan during the medical, but the club continued regardless. They were in desperate need of a striker at the time, which led to them pursuing Sikan as aggressively as they did.

If the striker is suffering from pubalgia, as the club fears, then surgery may well be the best option. This will set Sikan back for some time, but could be the best to allow him to fully recover. Once back to full fitness, perhaps he will be able to show the talent that those that signed him believe he has. As Renard said to HLN, ‘In my opinion, he is still a good player’.