 Born in Lier, Vermant started his career in 1978 at KV Hooikt and played there until 1989 when he moved to KV Mechelen, that had won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup the year before.In 1993 Vermant moved to Club Brugge, where he won both the championship (1996, 1998) and the Belgian Cup (1995, 1996) twice.Vermant stayed at Bruges until he transferred to FC Schalke 04 in 2001, after being heavily linked with a move to Scottish club Rangers.