STAR IS SHOWING WHY LEEDS MADE £35M BID FOR HIM WITH 8 GOALS IN 10 GAMES
However, this Charles de Ketelaere is a new player with a fresh start with a new squad.
Atalanta’s summer acquisition flicked the ball up in the air and scored a picture-perfect volley into the top corner with hardly any hesitation. A flawless and exquisite finish that would easily stand in for any of Francesco Totti or Paulo di Canio’s greatest work.
Charles de Ketelaere hits top form again
Georges Leekens, the coach of the Rote Duivels during the 1998 World Cup, says Sport Italia that “he is one of the best talents that Belgium has produced in recent years, very simply.”
Gian Piero Gasperini, the Atalanta coach, has regained his trust. He stopped smiling while he was in Milan and began to mistrust himself. He now smiles a lot while he plays. He enjoys himself and has self-confidence.
“After this, he has no boundaries. He is more prepared to play at a top level now that he has had this experience at Atalanta, and I have no doubt that he will be able to advance even farther in the future, toward great teams.
De Ketelaere had only scored two goals in 57 games two months prior. A startlingly poor return from a player who, had Milan not entered the race, might have ended up becoming Leeds United’s most expensive signing ever. The Yorkshire team’s £35 million summer 2022 bid became known to the public thanks to De Ketelaere’s former Club Brugge president Vincent Mannaert.
But by mid-February, that Puskas-baiting wonderstrike by Genoa is now De Ketelaere’s ninth in his previous ten games. With four more assists since the 3-2 victory over his old team, AC Milan, shortly before Christmas, you have a player who, in the course of just six months at Atalanta, has climbed all the way from the bottom to the summit once more.
Atalanta star showing why Leeds United wanted him
This is the Charles de Ketelaere that Leeds is prepared to spend a fortune on. This Charles de Ketelaere gave Milan the impression that they had acquired the next big thing in European football.
Legendary manager Arrigo Sacchi, who led the Rossoneri to two European Cups, laments, “the wonder of Brahim Diaz with the Real Madrid shirt in the Champions League, the constant growth of De Ketelaere with Atalanta, the increasingly decisive role of (Hakan) Calhanoglu at league leaders Inter.”
Without a doubt, Milan has three reasons to regret this.
