Claudio Ranieri has praised Charles De Ketelaere after AC Milan pipped Leeds United to his signature this summer.
The Whites have enjoyed a largely positive transfer window with Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca, Tyler Adams, Rasmus Kristensen and Luis Sinisterra all arriving.
Joel Robles is Leeds’ latest signing and the attention is now firmly on finding a new striker to support Patrick Bamford.
A host of names have been linked with Leeds this summer, with the Whites having to pivot a little having missed out on signing Belgian talent De Ketelaere.
Claudio Ranieri has praised Charles De Ketelaere
Leeds put forward a £30million bid for De Ketelaere this summer having been impressed with his performances for Club Brugge.
Who can blame them? De Ketelaere was superb last season.
The 21-year-old racked up 18 goals and 10 assists in 49 appearances across all competitions for Club Brugge.
A tall, rangy and technically-gifted player, De Ketelaere mostly played as a striker but can also play in midfield and even out wide if needed.
The Whites were left waiting and waiting because De Ketelaere’s priority wasn’t a move to Leeds – it was to join AC Milan.
After weeks of speculation, De Ketelaere finally did join AC Milan, with the Italian champions striking a deal worth €35million (£30million).
Leeds will be gutted to have missed out and now need to go and find another option to bolster their attack.
De Ketelaere has only played 19 minutes in Serie A for Milan so far, but that’s been enough to prompt praise from Claudio Ranieri.
Former Premier League title winner Ranieri has told Il Messaggero in Italy that he thinks Milan have pipped Leeds to an ‘excellent signing’ by snapping up De Ketelaere.
Ranieri added that De Ketelaere is ‘elegant and incisive’, seemingly backing him to become a star during his time at the San Siro.
“I really like De Ketelaere,” said Ranieri. “It was enough for me to see him on the pitch once with Belgium to appreciate his qualities. He’s practical, elegant, incisive. An excellent signing by Maldini and Massara,” he stated.
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