Leeds United may still hold a good chance of swaying Charles De Ketelaere to make the move to Yorkshire this summer.
This is according to Pete O’Rourke who has been discussing the Belgian’s future with This Is Futbol amid Leeds’ recent summer business.
Jesse Marsch has already seen his side bolstered considerably this summer with the addition of six new faces which has racked up a spend of just over £95m.
And reports suggest they do not want to end their business there with De Ketelaere one of the targets the Whites are still looking to bring in.
However, it seems Victor Orta will face competition from AC Milan for his services this summer but O’Rourke believes the lure of Premier League football may give Leeds a slight edge.
He said: “AC Milan still haven’t made anywhere near an offer that’s been acceptable to Club Brugge as well, so maybe Leeds with a big offer and the chance to play in the Premier League might just sway his decision to come to England rather than Italy.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…
There is definitely a case to be made for a move to Leeds with Premier League on offer for the midfielder who has only ever played his football in Belgium.
Are you confident of landing De Ketelaere?
Yes
No
However, should AC Milan propose an offer Club Brugge would be willing to accept, it would be very interesting to see where the youngster’s thought process is at?
Not only would he be joining the current Serie A champions and playing in one of Europe’s top leagues, but the Italian club could also offer him with the opportunity to play in the Champions League.
Although the Premier League is considered to be the best league in the world, by some. The prospect of Champions League football could be a really difficult offer to turn down.
Regardless of where he ends up, it is apparent he is very highly thought of with Opta Stats hailing him as a “diamond” just last month:
“Charles De Ketelaere (born in 2001) is the only player born after 1/1/2000 able to score already at least 15 goals and to provide at least 15 assists in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League (19 goals and 16 assists in total for him). Diamond,” they tweeted.