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Updated 23 Jun 2026, 00:00 UTC

Tessa Wullaert says she is not returning to Belgium as she searches for her next club

Updated 23 June 2026, 00:00 UTC — Brussels: Belgian captain Tessa Wullaert is currently without a club and has told HLN that she is not returning to Belgium yet, saying she still has ambition and energy for another step abroad. HLN reported the transfer stance; Inter previously announced her 2024 move to Milan on a deal running to 2026; UEFA lists her among the rare European players to pass 100 international goals.

Belgium Impulse Editorial·23 June 2026·1 min read·4 sources
Key signal

The decision matters first in football terms. Wullaert remains a high-profile forward, and her next club shapes her match rhythm, European visibility and leadership role with the Red Flames. For Belgian fans, it also delays the return of the country's most marketable women's footballer to the domestic game.

Tessa Wullaert is Belgium's best-known women's footballer, captain of the Red Flames and the national team's record scorer. The immediate story is a transfer-market decision: after her Inter Milan spell reached its contract endpoint, Wullaert is keeping the Belgian league off the table for now and looking for a project that matches her level and role.

Background

Wullaert's career has been built abroad as much as at home. She has played for Standard, Anderlecht, Wolfsburg, Manchester City, Fortuna Sittard and Inter, a path that reflects how elite Belgian women's players often need larger foreign leagues for salary, facilities and European competition.

OIS Intelligence

Impact

Regional — Flanders has the closest audience connection because Wullaert is Flemish and the story broke through Dutch-language sports coverage. The impact remains sporting, not regional policy.

Opposing perspectives

  1. Wullaert and her representatives

    Wullaert's side presents the decision as a sporting ambition call: she is not treating a Belgian return as the default option and wants a club environment that keeps her competitive after Inter.

  2. Belgian women's league stakeholders

    Domestic clubs and league promoters gain visibility from a player of Wullaert's profile, so her continued absence keeps one of Belgium's strongest commercial and sporting names outside the local competition.

Sources & evidence