South African youth international Shandre Campbell has been included in Club Brugge’s UEFA Champions League squad for their round of 16 match against English Premier League side Aston Villa at Jan Breydelstadion on Tuesday (19:45).  

This inclusion marks a significant step in Campbell’s career. He joined the Belgian side from SuperSport United at the start of the season and was initially assigned to Club NXT, their reserve team.  

However, his impressive performances in the reserve league led Club Brugge to promote the left winger to the first team in January, as previously reported by Sportswire last month.  

The 19-year-old has scored six goals and provided one assist in 15 appearances in the Challenger Pro League 2023/24.

He has already made his debut in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League, coming off the bench in the 84th minute against Sint-Truiden last month in a 2-2 draw.  

Now, he could make his debut in a major European competition with Brugge against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who qualified for the knockout stages.

While Aston Villa’s path to the round of 16 differed from Brugge’s, who qualified via the playoffs, Brugge did defeat Villa at home in November during the group stage with a penalty from Hans Vanaken.  

While Brugge has promoted Campbell to strengthen their attacking options, they face an Aston Villa side that also reinforced its squad during the January transfer window. They signed Marco Asensio from PSG on loan, with the attacker having won the Champions League three times with Real Madrid previously.  

Others to be signed are Marcus Rashford from Manchester United and Axel Disasi from Chelsea – all on loan, and Netherlands international Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund.