Arsenal are weighing up a move for Atalanta playmaker Charles de Ketelaere.
The Belgium international, 23, has relaunched his career at Atlanta after leaving AC Milan last year. He enjoyed a fantastic 2023/24 season, netting 10 goals and supplying eight assists in Serie A and was also key in Atalanta’s Europa League triumph. He joined the Bergamo-based club permanently from AC Milan, after a successful loan season, earlier this summer.
Charles de Ketelaere’s performances in an Atalanta shirt have sparked the interest of several European clubs including the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is reportedly a big fan of the versatile Belgian and wants to bring him to the Emirates Stadium in 2025.
Charles de Ketelaere would be a smashing fit at Arsenal
De Ketelaere, once rated as a huge talent at Club Brugge, was wrongly used by Stefano Pioli at AC Milan. As a result, he never managed to showcase his true potential at San Siro and live up to the high expectations of the fans.
A switch to Atalanta last year came at the right time in his career. Gian Piero Gasperini quickly understood the 23-year-old’s qualities and used him perfectly in his 3-4-1-2/3-5-2 system last season. This brought the best out of De Ketelaere, making him one of the first names on Gasperini’s teamsheet.
The Bruges-born talent linked up extremely well with the likes of Gianluca Scamacca, Teun Koopmeiners, Ederson, Ademola Lookman and Martin de Roon as Atalanta played some lovely stuff and defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final.
Technically gifted and tactically smart, De Ketelaere would be a great fit at Arsenal. Arteta could employ him in a number of roles, and with creative talents such as Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard around, De Ketelaere will have the platform to thrive in the Premier League. The acquisition of the talented Belgian may help lessen Arsenal’s dependency on Odegaard, who is currently on the sidelines.
The North London giants are internally considering whether or not to intensify their efforts to sign the Atalanta star, but if they do, De Ketelaere is unlikely to come cheap next year.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
