VfL Wolfsburg and Belgium midfielder Junior Malanda sadly passed away in a car accident on Saturday afternoon, according to Bild am Sonntag.
Malanda, just twenty, was sitting in the back seat of a Volkswagen Touareg that careered off the road. The accident occurred at 15:35, in which the Belgian starlet was killed instantly according to police.
The authorities have put the crash down to excessive speed and the weather conditions, a mix of rain and 100km/h winds. The car is said to have skidded, flew into the air and over the guardrail. From there it crashed into a tree and landed on it's roof, which killed Malanda instantly.
The two other occupants of the vehicle have been hospitalised with serious injuries, although their conditions are not yet known. The midfielder was due to fly to South Africa at 20:00, with his Wolfsburg team-mates to start their training camp in South Africa.
Sky Deutschland have confirmed the harrowing news, that see's the Bundesliga, and football in general, lose one of it's brightest stars.
Malanda's breakthrough came at Zulte-Waregem, where he starred in a season that saw them push RSC Anderlecht for the league title. He then moved onto Wolfsburg, but was loaned back to Zulte for the first half of the 2013-14 season.
The defensive midfielder, who combined power and guile, then made 17 appearances for the Wolves, scoring twice and setting up a further four goals. He has been a regular with Belgium's youth sides and would have gone on to be a major part of their senior set-up in the years to come.
The news has come to a shock to everyone, as the tributes begin to pour in from his footballing colleagues. We here at VAVEL pass on our thoughts and condolences to Junior Malanda's family, friends and everyone that knew him. 20 was just too young.