Michel Vlap

Heerenveen

Vlap is an academy graduate of Eredivisie side Heerenveen and is the son of academy coach and former player Jan Vlap.^[4][5] Having progressed through the ranks of Heerenveen's youth academy, he signed his first professional contract on 17 February 2015, penning a three-year deal with the club.^[6] He later featured for Heerenveen during the 2015–16 pre-season and scored a brace in the club's 8–1 victory over VV Heerenveen in new manager Jurgen Streppel's first match in charge of the club.^[7][8] Vlap then made his senior debut for the club on 27 November 2016, coming on as a late, second-half substitute for Kosovan international Arbër Zeneli in a 1–0 Eredivisie loss to Ajax.^[9]

Vlap failed to appear again during the 2016–17 season but returned to the first team to make his KNVB Cup debut on 20 September 2017, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Excelsior.^[10] He scored his first goal for the club the following month, netting in a 2–1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar.^[11] On 3 December, he signed a new five-year contract with Heerenveen after impressing with a run of three goals in his previous five appearances for the club.^[12] He ultimately scored four goals in 26 appearances across all competitions for the campaign.

He continued to feature for the club the following season and in October 2018, after scoring a league-high four goals in the month, won the Eredevise Player of the Month award.^[13] By the end of the campaign, he had scored 16 goals and recorded six assists which earned him a transfer to Belgian side, Anderlecht.^[14]

Anderlecht and loans

In February 2021, Vlap moved to Bundesliga team Arminia Bielefeld from Anderlecht, on a loan deal until the end of the season.^[15] On 15 February, Vlap scored his first Bundesliga goal in the ninth minute of his debut, in a 3–3 away draw at Bayern Munich.

Twente

Vlap again moved on loan in August 2021, returning to the Eredivisie with Twente.^[16] He made his competitive debut for the Tukkers on the first matchday of the 2021–22 season, replacing Dimitris Limnios in the 67th minute of a 2–1 away loss to Fortuna Sittard.^[17][18] He soon established himself as a starter for the club, and scored his first goal for Twente on 19 September in a 4–1 away victory against Vitesse.^[19] He played in all 34 league games that season, starting in 31 of them, as Twente secured a fourth-place finish and qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League for the following season.^[1][20]

On 4 July 2022, Anderlecht and Twente agreed on a permanent transfer and Vlap signed a three-year contract with an option for an additional year.^[21] He scored on his European debut, helping Twente to a 3–1 away win over Serbian club Čukarički on 4 August.^[22]

Al-Ahli

On 10 August 2025, Vlap was transferred to Al Ahli in Qatar.^[23]

Netherlands national youth teams

Vlap has represented Netherlands at both under-18 and under-19 level.^[24] On 21 July 2016, while representing the Netherlands at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Vlap made history by becoming the first player ever to be brought on as a fourth substitute in a UEFA match when he replaced Laros Duarte in a 3–3 (5–4) penalty shoot-out loss to Germany. Regulations then ordinarily allowed a team to make only three substitutions during a match but a trial allowing for a fourth substitution in extra-time was introduced by the International Football Association Board for the tournament.^[25][26] This was since changed to five substitutions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[27]