The tragic story of Luc Nilis, Ronaldo Nazario's all-time best striking partner

The name Luc Nilis probably rings a bell with many football fans, as the former Belgian striker is considered one of the greatest footballers in his country's history. He could have been even greater, however, were it not for the tragic end to his career. This is the story of Luc Nilis, Ronaldo Nazario's all-time best striking partner.

Nilis started his career at Belgian side KFC Winterslag, where he made his debut at the age of 16 and attracted interest from bigger Belgian clubs.

RSC Anderlecht, one of the biggest clubs in Belgium, contracted Nilis in 1986 and it would prove to be one of the best decisions it had ever made.

Nilis showed his goalscoring prowess during his time in Brussels, bagging 175 goals in 321 appearances (Transfermarkt). He also won the first trophies of his career, including four Belgian league titles.

His excellent performances in Belgium earned him interest from clubs abroad, but Nilis would not go far, as he signed just across the border with Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in 1994.

Nilis and PSV turned out to be a real love story. Among other trophies, the Belgian helped the Eindhoven team to two Dutch league titles and one Dutch Cup.

Nilis twice crowned himself the top scorer in the Dutch league, scoring a total of 133 goals for PSV (Transfermarkt). Many of those goals were real beauties, with Nilis scoring with ease with both his right and left foot and being a master at taking set-pieces.

Nilis played alongside many great players at PSV, perhaps the most talented of which is Ronaldo Nazario (pictured), with whom he shared the dressing room from 1994 to 1996.

And it seems the Brazilian was impressed by Nilis's skills. "I played with great players like Figo, Romario, Zidane, Rivaldo, Djorkaeff and Raul. But never has it worked as well as with Luc Nilis," Ronaldo is quoted by Afrique Sports.

"He was second to none for giving me the best balls. He was always generous," the Brazilian added.

While Nilis destroyed his opponents at club level, he never played his best football for the Belgian national team as he had a difficult relationship with many of the coaches and did not really fit in with Belgium's defensive style of play at the time. As a result, he only scored 10 goals in 56 appearances (Transfermarkt).

After six years at PSV, Nilis decided to try his luck in the Premier League in 2000, signing for Aston Villa.

The Belgian missed Villa's 2000/01 season opener against Leicester City, but was ready for the second game against Chelsea. Nilis did not miss his league debut at Villa Park, hammering in a stunning goal in the 1-1 draw against The Blues.

Nilis looked set to conquer the Premier League, but was unlucky two games later against Ipswich Town to suffer a horrific double compound fracture in his right leg when clashing with Ipswich goalkeeper Richard Wright.

Nilis underwent immediate surgery, but faced complications as the injury got infected. At one point, it was even feared that his lower leg would have had to be amputated.

An amputation was ultimately not necessary. However, the injury ended Nilis's career after just 5 games and 2 goals for Villa.

Nilis's time at Villa is one of those 'what if' stories where a player was just too unlucky to make it.

After his career, Nilis suffered serious gambling problems that caused him to lose a lot of money.

It also led to a divorce with his then wife Patsy, with whom he had three children.

Nilis continued in football after his career, first as a scout and then as technical director in 2004 at Belgian club Heusden-Zolder.

He also returned to PSV, where he worked as a scout, individual coach and forward coach.

After adventures in Turkey, the Netherlands, Jordan and Belgium, Nilis currently works in his native country as a forward coach with second division team Patro Eisden, where he teaches his players the ropes of the game.