Shortly after his debut, Ajax tried to sign 17-year-old Moroccan-Belgian defender Moncef Zekri, but Tom Caluwé, the technical director of Mechelen, convinced him to stay. In the current 2025/2026 Jupiler Pro League season, Zekri has made 12 appearances, and he has also been capped 20 times for the Morocco U17 national team. His market value is estimated by Transfermarkt to be €4.00m. Moncef Zekri said that it was difficult to turn down a team like Ajax but he had a feeling that the coach at Mechelen believes in him, and that Tom gave him a lot of confidence and it is better to play with the first team at Mechelen than a youth team at Ajax.