AC Milan have been linked with Charles De Ketelaere quite heavily in the last few weeks, seeing as he’s the perfect solution for their 4-2-3-1 formation. In fact, they are in pole position, a report claims.
Stefano Pioli has asked the management to sign an attacking midfielder this summer, and preferably one that also can play to the right in the attacking trio. De Ketelaere, with his versatility and quality, fits the bill perfectly.
According to The Athletic, Milan are in pole position in the race for the Club Brugge star. Leeds and Leicester have also expressed their interest in the last few weeks but De Ketelaere’s preferred destination, per the report, is Milan. And as said, the latter like the player a lot.
Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, the directors of the Rossoneri, have renewed their contracts and they will now begin the work on the mercato. It remains to be seen if they will make an official move for De Ketelaere, especially if the rumours of a €35-40m price tag are true.
Authoritative source, but if a bidding war commences then Milan will struggle vs the English clubs, especially if Leeds have €125m+ sat around after their two big sales and he’d fit very well into their new, more narrow, tactical setup.
Good news! No, act!
Our advantage vs. Leeds/Leicester is CL football and domestic pedigree. So it remains to be seen if money is everything or sporting ambitions will be the most important when CdK makes his decision.
It’s not only De Keteleare decision to make, Club Brugge has the final word. As in Botman’s case the player has a long contract and no leverage. If Leeds or Leicester offer significantly more money than Milan, then he will have to go to EPL or he can decide to stay in Belgium.
At Milan he will compete for trophies at least. Will have to see what his priority is, money or sporting performance.
I just finished reading the full article on theathletic.com (subscription required) — it is a very good article and it’s gotten me quite excited about the prospect of us signing him. I had been resigned to the fact that Leeds (after collecting lots of money from Man City on the Kalvin Phillips sale and likely more money selling Raphinha to either City, Arsenal or Chelsea) will easily about bid the 30M asking price that Milan stated we won’t go above. So, I assume we won’t get him (because Leeds will have A LOT more money to spend than we will) despite the Athletic’s report; but I sure hope I am wrong.
There’s no doubt that he would be a wonderful solution to the 4-2-3-1 system that Pioli has relied on for most of his tenure as coach.
However, Pioli has lately shown more flexibility with his choices in formation and tactical approach, as was witnessed last season when he opted to utilize a 4-3-3 on quite a few occasions to great effect.
Even though it was an exercise that was probably borne out of the inconsistencies of Diaz, it will still give food for thought.
So there’s a huge possibility that we might see a shift in the formation that Pioli mostly deploys. I’ve also partly made that assessment on the idea of the Sanches rumors being true, as it would suggest that a three man midfield is more likely if he comes.
Regardless of the system we use this season though, there’s no denying that CDK is a phenomenal talent that we should definitely try our best to acquire irrespective of if he would be an immediate protagonist.
100% agree with everything you said Milanito.
Part of me wishes we got Botman (or that we get Bremer or one more very good centerback to go with Tomori, Kalulu and Kjaer) so that we can play 3 in the back with Kalulu on the right, Tomori central and Kjaer or someone leftfooted on the left. This would allow Theo to be further up the pitch and, my preference would be Florenzi over Calabria on the right side.
like a 3-4-2-1.
that line of 4 could be Theo, Tonali/Bennacer and Florenzi. I would love to see that. I think we could score a lot more goals and having 3 good centerbacks, we would still have many clean sheets.