Charles De Ketelaere will leave Club Brugge in 2022 but Premier League rivals Everton and West Ham United will have to pay a Belgian record fee in the region of £34 million to sign him, as reported by Voetbal Krant.
A glance at the top-ten biggest exports in the history of the Jupiler League highlights the ‘risk and reward’ of signing players from one of Europe’s second-tier competitions.
On one hand you’ve got Youri Tielemans, Marouane Fellaini, Leandro Trossard and Jonathan David, the free-scoring Canadian who fired Lille to Ligue 1 glory last season.
On the other you have Sander Berge and Aleksandar Mitrovic, both now playing Championship football, and Wesley Moraes, Aston Villa’s £22 million misfit.
The jury remains out on De Ketelaere, then, although a couple of eye-catching performances in the Champions League group stages suggest he’s capable of contributing at the highest level.
Could Charles De Ketelaere sign for Everton or West Ham?
In October, Calciomercato reported David Moyes’ high-flying West Ham and Rafa Benitez’s Everton had joined the race to sign Club Brugge’s elegant 20-year-old schemer.
It’s understood Everton have made a winger one of their top priorities heading into the January transfer window and De Ketelaere, a ball-carrying wideman in the Jack Grealish mould, would fit that particular brief.
Reports coming out of Belgium today have shed more light on the situation stating that, while De Ketelaere will leave the Jan Breydel Stadium in 2022, a departure is more likely to take place in June rather than January.
Juventus, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund and even Real Madrid have thrown their hat into the ring now, with rapidly rising interest contributing to a rapidly rising price tag.
It’s understood Club Brugge won’t accept a penny less than £34 million, a fee that would see the Belgium international replace David as the most expensive player in Jupiler League history.
Unless Everton can raise substantial funds via the sale of fringe players and forgotten men, it seems unlikely the Toffees would be able to stump up the €40 million required.
They splashed out just £1.7 million during the whole of last summer after all.
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