KAA Gent captain Sven Kums announces retirement: “Difficult to accept that my body no longer wants to cooperate” | OneFootball

As per Het Laatste Nieuws, Sven Kums (37) will stop playing football after this season. The veteran midfielder announced this himself at a press conference. With a national title, a cup and the Golden Shoe, he can look back on a successful career.

In Belgium, it had been an open secret for some time that Sven Kums would retire. The midfielder was often on the bench this season and was increasingly plagued by a calf issue.

As the Belgian outlet reflects, “the body, which he had taken excellent care of all those years, was slowly wearing out. The signal for Kums to retire. He always wanted to retire at a high level. Dropping to a smaller club or a lower class was not an option.”

Kums told the press, “I made the decision during the season, after much thought and a lot of emotions. When I’m on the field, I want to be able to give everything. That hasn’t been possible enough this season due to a lot of ailments.

“I’ve taken a lot of care of my body all these years. Then it’s hard to accept that the body doesn’t want to cooperate anymore.”

Kums can comfortably be considered a Gent icon. He has played (so far) 353 matches for the club. Only Frédéric Herpoel (381) has turned out more. Furthermore, Kums won the historic national title in 2015 with the Buffaloes, calling it, “the most memorable moment of my career. I am proud of that and will enjoy it.”

Kums was also the star of the exceptional Champions League campaign that followed. He was even named by UEFA in the ‘Team of the Group Stage’, alongside stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Thomas Müller and Hulk. The Golden Boot was an absolute crowning achievement for his top year.

This was followed by a year abroad at Udinese in Italy before joining Anderlecht in 2017. Kums eventually reconnected with Hein Vanhaezebrouck at Anderlecht, the coach who launched him as a youngster at KV Kortrijk and with whom he shone at Gent. The two would work together for an intermittent total of twelve seasons and over 400 matches.

In 2019, Kums made his last transfer back to the old nest: KAA Gent. As the Belgian medium conclude, “Kums was the patron and reached his top level again and won the cup in 2022. To now, after more than 18 years of professional football, he has put an end to his career. An end of an era, again, at KAA Gent.”

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield