Charles De Ketelaere’s first season at AC Milan did not go to plan and the decision was made to send him on loan to Atalanta where he has begun to showcase his talent.
According to Fichajes, Arsenal and Manchester United are ‘looking to make a bid’ for De Ketelaere as both of them are in the market for a player who can offer a link between the midfield and attack.
The report states that both teams are eager to acquire the services of the young Belgian midfielder from Atalanta, but it must be noted that he is on a season-long loan from Milan to the Bergamo club.
Atalanta do have the option to make it permanent but only at the end of the season, so quite how any January bid could result in a permanent move to London or Manchester remains to be seen.
De Ketelaere has managed to attract the attention of some of the most prestigious clubs in the Premier League at the moment such as Arsenal and United, who see the Belgian as a valuable piece with big potential.
After failing to score a single goal following his €35m move from Club Brugge in the summer of 2022, the 22-year-old has two goals and two assists across 14 appearances in all competitions for La Dea.
Sky reported at the time that Milan agreed a loan worth €3m and an option to buy set at €23m plus €4m in potential bonuses, making a total of around €30m. There is also a 10% resale clause in Milan’s favour as well.
Please remove pioli out of our team because he is enemy of our progress in many ways😠
That first goal he scored in the league on day one is still his only goal in the league… I don’t care where he goes as long as it’s far away from Milanelo.
Another player ruined by Pioli…. If it’s true that Maldini wanted Pioli gone then De Ketelaere is the evidence.
I told you SO, he was the answer to our problems. We should have NEVER SOLD HIM and yes Pioli needed to listen to people who told him to try different alternatives with the players and give them chances. Stephano and the stooges thought they knew more about coaching a team than Maldini. Maldini lead the line and was a general for the best teams and most successful teams in football history. If one person can analyze, interpret and understand a player’s skill set, potential and capabilities at the highest level it is him. Pioli, the Scout, Mr.Beane, RedBirdhead and the Banker never accomplished half of what Maldini did as a leader of an organization.
Cardinal sin by Cardinale to not take heed to Maldini’s advice.
I am sure Maldini told them to play him as a Striker and all those clueless people pointed to their Money-ball computer algorithm calculations, forecasts and said their statistics didn’t support his claims, also his interpretation of Charles’ skill set did have enough enough statistical evidence to suggest he was fit to play up front. The reason why Maldini wanted more authority because he saw moronic decisions being made and a lack on intelligence, mental pliability within the organization.
Stats are only indicators of what has already occurred, one part of an equation. UNDERSTANDING FOOTBALL AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL BY ACCOMPLISHING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE ON THE FILED GIVES YOU AN INVALUABLE TOOL TO FORECAST AND ANTICIPATE THINGS COMPUTERS CAN’T, HUMAN KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IS WORTH AS MUCH AS TOOLS DEVELOPED TO GUIDE DECISIONS. THE LAST WORD HAS TO GO TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW BEST. MALDINI IS and WAS THAT PERSON.
Former Toulouse coaches, sporting directors, who are renown world wide amount the best in France BTW, all pointed to Gerry Springing his people into the organization to interfere and impose his methods on the coaching ground as well as in the operations of the club. Why they all refused to stay and left.
Our club is in terrible hands.
Fake news
CDK is not good enough and has lost his place at Atalanta. 1 goal in 10/11 league games is terrible for a forward (not a midfielder).
There is no way the clubs mentioned are after him.
We be lucky to sell him to Monza at this point
1 goal and 2 assists in 571 minutes. 3 points in 6.34 total games played in Serie A. 6 of his twelve appearances were 45 minutes or less because Gasperini said he showed up lacking sharpness and fitness, the training he did over the preseason was inadequate, insufficient for him to play Football, so was Scamacca’s. He also said in his first training session he was convinced CDK HAD TO BE PLAYED AS A STRIKER OR SECONDARY STRIKER.
This all points to Pioli and his conditioning staff not knowing how to train players to be in optimal physical condition for one. Two, it shows they lack the analytical depth, understanding of a player’s skill set to determine where he would be most effective. Comments about him here show the same lack of understanding vs actual statistics this far indicate.
3 points for an average of 6.34 full games for a player at his age in his first matches as a striker or second striker in Serie A is remarkable. Clearly some people just want to dump on this kid. He is being eased into his role and is doing well.
Breakdowns of his performance based on statistical evidence shows as follows:
He has the most dribbles out of all forwards at Atalanta, most successful dribble per 90 minutes,. 3rd most shots per 90 minutes in the penalty box. He ranks the best for mots successful touches per 90 minutes up front. Is dispossessed half as many times as Scamacca
someone everyone clamoured for. He is twice as good as him for successful touches. Ranks higher in Ariel duels won per 90 minutes than Scamacca. 2nd overall, behind 28 yr old Pasalic. He has 2.3 per 90 vs Scamacca’s 1.6. Is twice as efficient per first touch. Averages 2 key passes per 90.
What hurts him is he makes daring passes and tries difficult short passes and he is not looking to score or finish but that is probably not what they are asking of him now. At 22, that is normal for a player in his second year in Italy. He will pick up on the timing and understanding of his positional awareness in Serie A. He showed great potential.
His finishing has not been superb. Has has also not been the reference point to the team in terms of who they look for to get off shots. He is being employed to win 1 on 1s to create scoring opportunities in difficult advanced positions, under a lot of defensive pressure from opposition. His hold up play is better than other more experienced forwards on the team. In the air as well.
+ Strengths
Dribbling
Through balls
Key passes
Holding on to the ball
– Weaknesses
Finishing
Charles De Ketelaere’s Style of Play
Likes to dribble
Likes to play short passes. These two would indicate he is learning how to find space to shoot still and is needing to unlearn certain predispositions to pass or go 1 on 1 instead of taking a shot. That is normal for 22 year old foreigners in Italy.
Did you just copy this from whoscored?
@Doki – Who knows? Just another essay on his undying love for CDK…
@chrisp
Here’s some easy stats to digest
CDK
Position – Forward
Age – 22
2022-2023
32 aps 0 goals 1 assist
2023 –
11 aps 1 goal 2 assist
He cost €32,000,000 + €3,000,000=€35,000,000
CDK would be the perfect understudy for Havertz in the role of completely ineffectual position-less player.
Sorry @chrisp but that’s all great until you watch CDK play. He’s an eddy in a system of play. He can’t dribble, he can’t change direction because he’s so 1 sided, he can’t really progress the ball either or play with his back to goal.
He’ll never become the player that embarrasses our sale of him.
I can see why he catches the eye. It’s the height, the graceful, languid movements and the left foot. It’s looks like he be a player…
@Bruno
What a perfect summation. Bravo