Charles De Ketelaere’s first season with AC Milan has not gone the way he would have hoped but there is still time for him to make important contributions.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) recall how De Ketelaere came off the bench during the second half against Roma and once again failed to make much of an impact, with his first season currently drifting towards being very forgettable.
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De Ketelaere will undoubtedly improve and a full preseason will help, but his debut campaign with the Rossoneri has not yielded the contribution that Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara foresaw when they invested over €30m to sign him after weeks of negotiations.
Roma’s goal on Saturday started when De Ketelaere – who received the ball from Theo Hernández – tried to find Sandro Tonali with a limp pass. The shoulder barge by Gianluca Mancini was not a foul nor does it relieve him of responsibility for the goal.
The 22-year-old is currently suffering with some shyness and after eight months in Italy this has not decreased but has rather worsened. De Ketelaere doesn’t seem to be very confident, with disappointing performances week after week.
On the contrary, when Rafael Leão sent in the cross from which Alexis Saelemaekers equalised, CDK visibly pushed Roger Ibañez away. The referee could have evaluated it differently, as well as the VAR booth, so he could have impacted it in the wrong way.
With 1,355 minutes on the field so far with 12 starts out of his 36 appearances this season, it is clear that things haven’t gone well so far. However, Milan will not sell De Ketelaere and instead it seems next season will have to be one where there is a leap in quality.
His a flop Milan should just replace him sharperly like signing baldazi and Nicolo zaniolo for that role pls no mistake