Charles De Ketelaere hasn’t panned in his first few months in Italy, but Milan remain confident he’ll eventually live up to expectations. Their recent woes haven’t helped him, as Stefano Pioli stuck with Brahim Diaz, who’s more of a certainty.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Rossoneri fully expect the transition to happen at some point during the season, especially because they have no control over the future of the Spaniard. They have invested €35M to poach the starlet from Club Brugge, and they don’t want the sum to go to waste.
Even if he continues to flounder, Milan are highly unlikely to move on from De Ketelaere altogether, and a loan spell elsewhere is improbable too. It’s tough to imagine another team paying as much as they did for him last summer, and they can’t afford to register a big loss.
While the 23-year-old used to play in different roles in the Jupiler Pro League, Pioli sees him only as a no.10, so he’s in direct competition with Diaz, who has been more effective. He’ll be deployed as a false 9 only in extreme situations, as he’s too different from Olivier Giroud. Plus, Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently returned from injury.
Our Take on Milan and De Ketelaere
He couldn’t have landed in a more patient team, as they waited for Rafael Leao to blossom for a few years, and they were eventually proven correct. The approach won’t change as long as Paolo Maldini is in charge. Despite his subpar showings, more chances to start wouldn’t hurt, as some of last summer’s newcomers have been adept once the gaffer began trusting them.
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