Charles De Ketelaere was bought for good by Atalanta yesterday. But he almost took his career away from Serie A.
Two years ago, AC Milan had to put no less than 36 million on the table to convince Club Brugge to let go Charles De Ketelaere. It must be said that the Milanese had a lot of competition, as Vincent Mannaert explains to Italian journalist Alessandro Schiavone.
“Club Brugge had an agreement with Leeds United regarding De Ketelaere. The English offered a lot of money, more than AC Milan” remembers the former CEO of Blauw en Zwart.
He continued: “I was in a strong position thanks to this offer from Leeds and so it was not easy for Paolo Maldini. Personally, I wouldn’t have had anything against Charles going to Leeds, but then I accepted his desire to go to Milan. The problem is that the Rossoneri’s first offer was 22 million euros…”.
AC Milan rather than Leeds
The Transalpines ended up increasing their offer after fairly long negotiations. Even if he has since bounced back well at Atalanta, this adventure in Milan did not smile on CDK.
“Paolo had said that Charles needed time, but the problem is that there is no time for that at a big club likeAC Milan. In hindsight, he was right, because Charles demonstrated his qualities a year later at Atalanta. Even if the pressure is less strong than at AC Milan,” analyzes Mannaert.
