Charles De Ketelaere has had a decent start to his AC Milan career, now increasingly comfortable with the Rossoneri’s playing system. However, he knows that he needs to grow even more.
The Belgian playmaker was signed from Club Brugge this summer for a fee of €35m, which obviously set the expectations among the fans quite high. Thus far, De Ketelaere has been decent for Milan but not much more than that.
While he only stands at one assist, he’s one of the top players in the league when it comes to creating chances. Speaking to Belgian outlet HLN, De Ketelaere stated that there have been mixed reviews thus far and he knows that he must improve.
On his Milan adventure thus far…
“It always goes up and down in the football world. When I first joined Milan, there was a lot of positivity. Afterwards, there was a bit of negativity, but also positivity eventually. That’s how it goes in football. Of course, you prefer positivity to negativity.
“I just do my best and try to give the best of myself every day and become a better footballer. I try not to think too much about the pressure, I just try to do my best. I know I still have a lot to learn, I know what I can do and I try to improve as much as possible. I want to help the squad. That’s how I’ve always been and I hope I can stay that way.”
Finding the back of the net…
“That’s something I’m working on. I go into every match with the idea of being important, by scoring goals and providing assists, but I don’t want to attach too much importance to it either. When it comes naturally, it goes smoother. But it’s normal that it’s in my head – every footballer wants to score and be important. It’s not that I’m sad now because it hasn’t worked out yet, but I hope to score soon,” he concluded.
De Ketelaere inevitably needs time to adapt to Italian football and especially Milan’s system, which you don’t get used to in one day. The progress is there, though, and the Rossoneri are very hopeful for the future.
