Leeds United have submitted a £26million offer to sign Club Brugge wonderkid Charles De Ketelaere, according to The Mail.
The 21-year-old Belgium whizkid enjoyed the best campaign of his fledging career last season, helping Brugge win a third consecutive league title.
From 49 appearances across all competitions, the Belgium international averaged a goalscoring contribution in every other game – scoring 18 and laying on ten assists.
With Jesse Marsch’s two prized assets Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha set to depart Elland Road this summer, the American will be keen to replace the Brazilian’s priceless goals and creativity for the Whites.
Leeds’ number ten scored 17 goals and provided 12 assists from 67 games, following his move from Ligue 1 side Rennes two years ago.
With Leeds’ number ten jersey seemingly set to become vacant, De Ketelaere could become Marsch’s main man and be the focal point of Leeds’ attack.
The eight-time Belgium star can play anywhere across the forward line, and despite the lure of Champions League football possibly appealing to him if he remained with Brugge, the young starlet looks ready for a big-money move to one of Europe’s top five leagues.
With De Ketelaere linked with a big-money move to West Yorkshire, HITC Sport takes a look at five former Club Brugge stars who sealed Premier League moves.
Former Club Brugge stars who sealed Premier League moves
Emmanuel Dennis
After scoring 29 goals from 116 appearances for the Belgian giants, two of which came at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Nigerian was signed by Watford for £3.5million last summer.
In his first season in the Premier League the 24-year-old scored 10 top-flight goals, but the Super Eagles international couldn’t prevent the Hornets from being relegated to the Championship.
Despite the Vicarage Road side dropping down to the second tier of English football, Dennis, who is valued at £20m, is attracting interest from the likes of Everton.
Marvelous Nakamba
The Zimbabwe international was brought to Aston Villa from Brugge in August 2019 by Dean Smith. The all-action midfielder missed a large chunk of last season due to a knee injury.
But with Steven Gerrard bringing in France international Boubacar Kamara from Marseille on a free transfer to bolster his midfield, which already contains Phillipe Coutinho, Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn, Nakamba may find himself on the fringes of the Villa first team.
Jose Izquierdo
Brighton broke their transfer record to sign the Colombian international from Club Brugge. The Seagulls paid £13.5m to sign the speedy winger who arrived in England having won the Belgian Pro League three times.
Izquierdo, who was named footballer of the year for the 2015-16 Belgian campaign, scored 39 goals from 121 games for the Jan Breydel side.
In his first season in the Premier League, Izquierdo scored five times under Chris Hughton, but he only featured once under current Brighton boss Graham Potter.
The six-time Colombian international returned to Brugge last summer, but he only made four appearances and amassed 108 minutes of game time across the campaign.
Arnaut Danjuma
The Netherlands international spent one full season with Brugge, scoring six goals in 25 appearances, before Premier League side Bournemouth paid £13.7m to bring him to the Vitality Stadium.
After scoring 17 goals for the Cherries during their run to the Championship play-offs in 2020-21, Danjuma was brought to Villarreal by former Paris Saint Germain and Arsenal boss Unai Emery, in a deal worth £21.3m.
The pacey winger shone in his first season in La Liga, scoring 16 goals in all competitions, including six in the Champions League as the Yellow Submarine beat Juventus and Bayern Munich en-route to reaching the quarter-finals.
Wesley
Aston Villa forked out £22m to sign the Brazilian striker from Brugge in the summer of 2019 after scoring 16 goals in his final campaign in Belgium.
After rupturing his cruciate knee ligament against Burnley on New Year’s Day in 2020, Wesley would go onto play for the Villains just four more times.
After spending part of last season back on loan at Brugge, the one-time Brazil international returned to his homeland in January where he joined Internacional on loan for the remainder of the calendar year.
The 25-year-old has scored six goals in 26 appearances for the Villa Park side.
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