Aston Villa have reportedly made a €25m offer to AC Milan to sign Charles De Ketelaere, but the Italian giants are said to want closer to €30m to green light an exit.
The 22-year-old enjoyed an impressive spell with his boyhood club Club Brugge after coming through the youth ranks, where he scored 25 goals and provided 20 assists in 120 appearances to emerge as a top talent.
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However, things ultimately didn’t go to plan after he landed his big move to Italy last year, as he managed just one assist and no goals in 40 outings for Milan in his debut campaign, as he struggled for form and confidence before facing a battle to get back into the side.
While there is obvious talent there given Milan’s initial decision to invest in him after a positive stint in Belgium, last season would have been a setback for him and knocked his confidence.
Nevertheless, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Villa have made an offer of €25m to acquire the Belgian international’s services, but it’s added that the Rossoneri want closer to €30m to approve of an exit.
Time will tell if the two clubs can reach a compromise to seal an agreement to move the potential transfer forward, but Villa are seemingly keen on De Ketelaere and could view him as a solution to add more creativity and quality in the final third.
It’s an area of our squad that needs to be strengthened to give Unai Emery more tactical solutions and competition, with too much of the onus to create falling on Emiliano Buendia last season with Philippe Coutinho struggling with injuries and others proving to be too inconsistent.
As we look to compete on multiple fronts this season, we’ll need more quality around Ollie Watkins to provide improved service, but it will be interesting to see if Villa decide that De Ketelaere, despite his underwhelming year in Serie A last season, is the ideal option for us amid speculation also linking us with the likes of Moussa Diaby and Joao Felix.
Given Emery’s ability to improve and develop players, as we saw with countless individuals in the Villa squad last season, there should be little doubt that he could help De Ketelaere rediscover his form and confidence to become a key member of the side if he were to arrive, but it’s a crucial decision on a key position that we have to get right this summer.
