After making his first start for AC Milan against Bologna, Charles De Ketelaere is already showing why the club were so adamant on signing him this summer.
The 21-year-old has been steadily integrated into the side by Stefano Pioli in the opening three games of the Serie A season, playing 20 minutes against Udinese before registering 32 minutes against Atalanta last weekend.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Bologna: Leao, Giroud and De Ketelaere star in win
Having had time to improve his fitness levels and build an understanding and chemistry with his new teammates, the Milan boss felt the time was right for De Ketelaere to make his first start against Bologna, and the Belgian international didn’t disappoint.
Naturally, an attacking player will be judged on their statistics and their goal involvements. With that in mind, it would have been settling and a boost for his confidence that De Ketelaere provided his first assist in a Milan shirt as he teed up Rafael Leao to break the deadlock.
However, assessing his performance as a whole, he could very well be one of the more exciting additions to the Milan squad in some time given what he brings to this team and how he addresses key weaknesses we’ve had in recent times.
From his vision and passing ability to his creative quality and inventiveness and flair to excite the Milan fans, there were several passages of play where he drew cheers from the San Siro faithful as he showed great physicality, balance and technical skill to get past players as well as find holes in the Bologna defence with his passing.
Further, his work ethic and tenacity out of possession was also impressive as he worked hard to recover the ball in Bologna’s half, while he also formed part of our overall pressing strategy to apply pressure on their backline.
De Ketelaere looked at home, and that’s a big thing given his young age and the pressure that comes with not only his price-tag, but also the expectation on his shoulders to deliver as Milan’s only real marquee signing this summer.
There is no doubt plenty of room for improvement still, with Pioli stressing after the game that he still has work to do on his fitness and developing a rhythm and understanding of our style of play to fully fit into the team so he’s in a position to be decisive regularly.
Nonetheless, it was certainly a promising start and one that gives us hope that we have a genuine, potential top-class talent on our hands in that playmaker role who can not only be influential and decisive in our play but also excite the Milan fans again and add a touch of class as we look to secure more silverware this season and beyond.
