Phil Hay has claimed that Leeds United may have dodged a bullet over the summer by not signing Charles De Ketelaere given his poor form.
The Belgian international was highly sought after over the summer with Leeds seemingly very willing to splash out what would have been a club-record transfer fee on the attacker, although he opted for a move to AC Milan instead.
While the only attacking signing Leeds made over the summer for the first team was teenager Wilfried Gnonto and some may think De Ketelaere could’ve helped their problems this season, he’s yet to score his first goal for AC Milan showing he may not have been what Leeds thought he was.
Hay has admitted on The Phil Hay Show that from what he can gather, De Ketelaere has been less than impressive this season, meaning Victor Orta may have dodged a big transfer blunder.
Are you glad Leeds didn't sign De Ketelaere?
Yes!
No!
(36:25) “The shoot for the moon signings look great on paper and are fantastic if you make them happen, although De Ketelaere isn’t having a happy time at AC Milan from what I can gather.”
TIF Thoughts on missing out on De Ketelaere…
At the time, many Leeds fans and people within the club would’ve likely been gutted to have missed out on top target De Ketelaere, however, he’s so far started just five league games for AC Milan with one assist and zero goals to his name.
Therefore, the fact they didn’t end up having to splash out £30 million on one player rove the summer could well have been a blessing in disguise, although it certainly won’t have seemed it at the time.
Instead, Leeds were able to spread out their spending and brought in a good number of players who’ve already become first-team regulars including Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams and Marc Roca, so for both the short and long-term, not signing De Ketelaere may well have been the best thing for the club.