Charles De Ketelaere has received some criticism lately and after starting the game against Chelsea, he was placed on the bench against Juventus. Stefano Pioli has made it clear that time is needed, though.
The Belgian playmaker arrived for a fee of €35m from Club Brugge this summer and there are inevitably high expectations with that. Thus far, De Ketelaere has bagged one assist for the club and many believe that he should have done better.
After the win against Juventus, in which De Ketelaere came on as a sub and did well, Pioli spoke about the time needed for youngsters to adapt (see video below). Much to his surprise, CDK has been criticised despite many previous examples, such as Pierre Kalulu and Sandro Tonali.
Indeed, patience will be needed to get the best out of De Ketelaere, who perhaps should have had an assist yesterday after a lovely pass to Theo Hernandez. If anyone knows what is needed, it’s Pioli.
