With the hurdle of claiming that long-awaited 12th league title duly taken, Club was now hungry for more. A lacklustre European campaign pinpointed Club’s weak points, but Club swiftly made sure the pieces of the puzzle helping Club to maintain its spot at the top of Belgian football were found. Even if the final season with Michel Preud'homme only lead to the Supercup in the Summer, there’s no denying the huge part Preud’homme and his staff have played in the development of Club Brugge in his three year reign.
Much to the surprise of pundits and experts, Club appoints former player Ivan Leko as its new T1 in the Summer of 2017. Signing in from STVV, the Croat does not hold an impressive List of Honours, making this up with lots of gusto and a fanatical approach towards football. A premature departure from the European scene offered room for doubt, but with its offensive 3-5-2, Club took the league by storm, cruising towards first place, where it was set to remain for the entire season. Club’s new skipper Ruud Vormer made a name for himself as one of the most industrious goal scorers in Europe, seeing his performances rewarded with a first Golden Boot, the second in a unique four-in-a-row of Club Golden Boots.
Record sales, off-the-pitch circumstances, it all couldn’t keep Club Brugge from fighting fort hat top spot. A third place in a Champions League group with Dortmund, Monaco and Atletico de Madrid already raised quite a few eyebrows, but reaching the group stages again the next year, this time by making it through the dreaded prelims, really showed Philippe Clement’s Club is on the rise. On the OUT side, Club keeps selling players the likes of Wesley Moraes and Arnaut Danjuma for ever increasing figures, while the team also breaks its own transfer records in the hopes of building an even stronger team. With the new Belfius Basecamp and plans for a 40 000 seater stadium alongside the old Jan Breydel, the future looks bright for the pride of the City of Bruges. In 2020, Club claimed its 16th league win as the league grinded to a halt with one match day to go, due to the corona crisis. With 70 points so far, Club was 15 points ahead of the nearest competition.