AC Milan and Inter are both struggling for form and are likely to be reflecting on the last summer transfer window, more specifically on the choices made and how the money was spent.
La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that Charles De Ketelaere and Joaquin Correa are ‘symbols of the decline of Milan and Inter’. De Ketelaere is seven years younger and this earns him patience, but it is useless to deny that a significant amount was invested for both and that neither are performing.
Contracts excluded, the duo cost over €60m: €35m for De Ketelaere which is €32m plus €3m in fairly easy bonuses, and €31m for Correa to sign him from Lazio.
It has been said that De Ketalaere is a potential new Kevin De Bruyne, who is today one of the most important players for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, but today their Belgian citizenship remains the only point of comparison between the two.
De Ketelaere started well but has suffered a slow slide towards irrelevance and it is not clear what his role is given he has struggled as a No.10 but can also play as a winger and as a false nine.
The 21-year-old was wanted by Paolo Maldini and he arrived after an exhausting negotiation, yet it feels inexplicable that Stefano Pioli has not managed to get even a goal from the player in five months.
The team around him are struggling, but De Ketelaere must rediscover the courage to play rather than turning backwards and playing it to a team-mate when he receives the ball, because we have been told his technique is unquestionable and yet we barely ever see it.
You will see CDK next season, just give him time.
By this rate Milan will only compete in Serie A and that’s not good enough. We need results NOW.
Ģbamsolutely….
Where did he start well? Sure wasn’t milan.
I can’t repeat this enough: CDK still lived at his childhood home with his mother while he played for Club Brugge. It was his club since he was a boy. He has huge talent, but is like a bird leaving the nest for the first time.
It was a huge mistake to haggle over the transfer all summer and only get him in at the last second without any time to settle in his personal life or to train with the team. His problems are likely far greater than just what we see on the field, or at least they are interrelated.
Milan need to focus on getting him settled as a person and spark his confidence to remember the player he has always been since he was a boy. Otherwise, he risks being just another young talent who failed to launch.