MBrugge star expects De Ketelaere to join Rossoneri

Charles De Ketelaere appears to be on the brink of a move to Milan, and Club Brugge team-mate Hans Vanaken revealed the Belgian champions’ squad are resigned to his departure.

Milan are in the market for attacking reinforcements after winning their first Serie A title since 2010-11 last season, and Brugge star De Ketelaere has emerged as a target after scoring 18 goals in all competitions last term.

The Rossoneri’s sporting director Paolo Maldini revealed he was confident of striking a deal for the 21-year-old after travelling to Belgium for talks this week, despite Brugge coach Carl Hoefkens insisting De Ketelaere would only be permitted to leave “at the right time”.

De Ketelaere’s team-mate Vanaken has revealed the Brugge players are resigned to losing the Belgium international, who he believes has the quality to star in Serie A.

“Against Milan in the Champions League could be a nice reunion,” Vanaken told Belgian newspaper HLN.

“I haven’t seen Paolo Maldini here this week, no. But we all read it too. There are no secrets.

“We all know that Milan will go to any lengths to get Charles. We’re not swinging all those La Gazzetta dello Sport covers here, but we do speak some Italian to him sometimes.

“Charles is a super talent who has grown enormously here in three years. He has shown that he is ready to take the step.”

However, De Ketelaere may not have made his final Brugge appearance after Hoefkens confirmed he is available for their season opener against Genk on Sunday.

“For me, he is still part of club. He is also available for Sunday,” Hoefkens said of the attacking midfielder. “This is not easy for him, he has never experienced anything like it.

“It’s something special, we’re trying to understand it as best we can.”

Milan will hope to have De Ketelaere on board when they begin their Serie A title defence against Udinese on August 13.