Former Inter midfielder Radja Nainggolan has urged AC Milan to sign his compatriot Charles De Ketelaere from Club Brugge this summer.
Interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Nainggolan spoke about the growth shown by Milan winger Alexis Saelemaekers who arrived from Anderlecht in January of the 2020-21 season on an initial loan.
“Saelemaekers was not highly regarded here and instead he was able to establish himself in Milan and win the league title. Congratulations to him: that’s the way. Our boys should go and compete in the top clubs,” he said (via SempreMilan.it).
Nainggolan was also asked about De Ketelaere, who continues to be heavily linked with a move to Milan as several reliable sources are now claiming that he is the number one target of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara with regards to strengthening the attack.
“He is a very strong player and he needs exactly this: to test himself in a more competitive context than the current one. De Ketelaere has won the last three league titles here, in the last two seasons he has been an undisputed star of the team. What else can it aspire to? His journey in Belgium is over, he must establish himself elsewhere,” he said.
MilanNews reported this afternoon that Milan are making progress in the De Ketelaere talks. Club Brugge started with an asking price of €40m for the 21-year-old playmaker which seems to have dropped to around €35m including bonuses. Milan would like to allocate a total of €30m to the operation, while the player has already said yes to the Rossoneri.
