Charles De Ketelaere headed off to the World Cup in Qatar hoping to find his magic touch again, but the tournament has not yielded the results anyone hoped for.
Calciomercato.com ask ‘can it get worse than this?’ as they described De Ketelaere as being at ‘rock bottom’. He had then lost a starting spot at Milan and he played just 15 minutes for Belgium at the World Cup, failing to influence the game in his one appearance.
That means 2022 is over for the 21-year-old, so now comes the return to Milan and to the orders of Stefano Pioli, who will have among his missions the objective of turning CDK around mentally. After all, he can only stay at rock bottom or go upwards.
From August 1st to December 1st, De Ketelaere has had four months which loaded him with pressure, comparisons and the weight of his price tag. A goal is needed, or in any case a bit of play that leads to a turning point.
In this sense, the Coppa Italia round of 16 against Torino could be the game to relaunch him, because Pioli is likely to lean on more reliable forwards at the risk of Napoli extending their eight-point lead.
Form is temporary, class is permanent. Milan need to have faith; they don’t want another Lucas Paqueta situation….
Agreed MC Miker. Paque
The counter is that he may not actually have the class… but we won’t know in barely 5 months of having him with us. Will judge him by end of next season ie. summer 2024
We hanged too much responsibility on this boy’s shoulders. He is 21 only. Being a playmaker is smth really challenging.
I think he will start playing better as soon as Zlatan comes back to the field. He needs a leader. Probably the whole team need his presence.