AC Milan fans and the media must have a bit more patience with Charles De Ketelaere as he continues to adapt to a whole new environment, a report claims.
MilanNews talks about the weight of expectation placed upon De Ketelaere, which may well have come from the length of the negotiation, the €35m spent to sign him from Club Brugge, the comparisons with greats like Kaka and Kevin De Bruyne, the compilation videos distributed and of course some initial flashes of brilliance.
However, it seems as though there is a growing segment of those who are sceptical about if De Ketelaere has what it takes at the present moment to make a contribution to a team that wants to win trophies this season.
It is true that the 21-year-old did not get in the game as much as he would have liked at the Red Bull Arena, but he did make an important contribution to Saelemaekers’ equaliser and there is absolutely no reason to turn up the heat on him yet.
On the contrary, there are as reasons to be absolutely optimistic about his centrality in the project as there are to criticise the early signs, as Stefano Pioli highlighted after the game.
“It may be that we sae him a little less, maybe he was well marked by their low block. It was not a quick and immediate construction to find him a little freer. It is inevitable that he needs some insertion time,” he said.