Early career Vanaken began his career at the youth team of
Lommel United before leaving the club to join the
PSV Eindhoven academy in 2002 when the former declared bankruptcy. His maiden season at Club Brugge came with a spot in the starting line-up, where he proved instrumental in helping the club lift their 14th league championship. In 2018, Vanaken scored 21 goals and provided a further 21 assists as he helped his team to its 15th league title and the Belgian Supercup. On 16 January 2019, Vanaken won the
Belgian Golden Shoe award after having won the
Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year award in May 2018. Vanaken signed a new contract with Brugge on 9 August 2019, tying him to the club until 2024. against
Red Bull Salzburg in the
2018–19 Europa League On 15 January 2020, Vanaken became the first player since
Jan Ceulemans in 1986 to win back-to-back Belgian Golden Shoe awards. Vanaken won the award on the back of 20 goals and 7 assists during 2019. Club Brugge would win their third title in five seasons when the 2019-20 campaign was halted in March due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, with one round to go in the regular season. The play-offs were cancelled, and the club were crowned champions by virtue of being top. On 20 May 2021, Vanaken scored twice as Brugge drew 3–3 with
rivals Anderlecht to retain the
Belgian First Division A title, winning it for the fourth time in six years and 17th time overall. Vanaken went on to help inspire Club to a third successive title in 2022, their first three-in-a-row since the 1970s, as they overhauled long-time leaders
Union Saint-Gilloise in the play-offs, something that would happen again for Club's next title in
2023-24. On 6 November 2024, Vanaken scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win over
Aston Villa in the
UEFA Champions League. Vanaken won his third golden shoe in February 2025, which brought him level with
Jan Ceulemans and
Wilfried van Moer. Only
Paul van Himst has won the award more times (4 times). ==International career==