Former Sheffield Wednesday forward Marc Degryse has been left unimpressed by talk of Belgium calling up Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk.
Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has hinted at a potential call-up for the 21-year-old after a positive first season in the Premier League for the Whites.
Martinez could be set to revamp his defence over the coming year, with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen both in their 30s, and Struijk's ability to play in defensive midfield could stand him in good stead for a call-up.
Yet Degryse, who spent one season at Sheffield Wednesday in the mid-1990s, said on Belgian TV channel Play Sports that 33-year-old Thomas Vermaelen, who currently plays in Japan for Vissel Kobe, should be given a call-up ahead of Struijk.
"It's not like he's head and shoulders above the rest," Degryse said of the Leeds player.
"I do not know if you should call him up now. I'd blindly choose Vermaelen."
Struijk was born in Deurne in Belgium but moved to The Hague in the Netherlands at the age of three.
Having been involved in the youth systems at ADO Den Haag and Ajax, Struijk was handed a call-up to the Netherlands under-17 squad in 2016.
Yet, with that being the only representation he has so far made for a Dutch international side, he remains eligible for a Belgium call-up.
Speaking earlier this month, Martinez revealed he had held conversations with the player over a potential call-up.
He said: "I was very impressed with his performance when he started playing for Leeds in the Championship. We have to look to the future, but we don't have that kind of profile: a left-sided central defender.
"He's a dynamic player, very present and who can play in different positions. We probably have the gratin of world football with Jan Vertonghen or Thomas Vermaelen, but these are players who are over thirty years old.
"The sooner we can get young players to work with our elders, the better for the future of Belgian football. And this is one of the reasons why Pascal is a name that we very quickly tried to contact."
He added: "For the moment, he is one of the players we have seen who could fit the criterion.
"We will make a decision when the camp approaches in March.
"With Pascal, there are still two or three players that we try to attract but I won't say the names. Currently, we haven't made our decision yet."
