Serie A is the home for some of the top talented youngsters in modern-day football. The likes of Juventus, Roma, Napoli and both Milan clubs attract players from around the globe and these players try to establish themselves in the team. One such young talent was recruited last year by AC Milan from Belgian side Club Brugge.
Charles De Ketelaere left his home country in search of more opportunities. AC Milan were interested in signing him and brought the player at the start of the 2022-23 season. The Milan club was struggling to show consistency and that affected the stats of the player. De Ketelaere was loaned out to Atalanta in the summer, to give him more game time and time to settle into Italian football. The 22-year-old has been a great addition to the team and here is how this young Belgian has performed in all competitions.
Creativity down the middle
Charles De Ketelaere is a No. 10 and can play anywhere behind the striker. He can even play as a False 9 in the team. The above viz shows the positions in which De Ketelaere has played for Atalanta in the Serie A 2023-24 season. Around 50% of the time he has played behind the striker. On occasions, he has played as a No. 9 and the manager has even used him on the right side.
The Belgian attacker can carry the ball and most of his progressive runs have started in the middle third and ended in the final third of the opposition. Charles averages 2.7 runs per 90 minutes and has completed 44.4% of his dribbles. The dribble success rate is less, but most of these successful dribbles took place around the penalty box.
This visual contrasts a player’s dribbling ability against their knack for receiving the ball in positions where they’re expected to progress the ball towards a goal (pctxgrecv). Players in the top right quadrant are both adept dribblers and influential in ball progression. In the current Serie A season, De Ketelaere is rated among the best in the business. He has the confidence to take on defenders.
After failing to score a single goal for AC Milan last season, the Belgian has already netted seven goals across all competitions for Atalanta. He has registered three goals in the Serie A and two each in the UEFA Europe League and Coppa Italia. A total of 43 shots have been attempted, with an average of 2.4 shots per 90 minutes. His accuracy rate is on the higher side at 53.5%.
This juxtaposes a player’s overall attacking output (Attack) against their shooting prowess from open play with their foot (Open_foot). Players in the top right quadrant are both dynamic attackers and proficient finishers. Once again Charles has a decent rank among all the players in No. 10 roles in Serie A.
In addition to seven goals, the youngster also has seven assists to his name. Around 3.9 passes have been attempted to the penalty box per 90 minutes by De Ketelaere and 55% of these have found a teammate. Most of his assists have landed around the penalty spot.
AC Milan will be happy with the way their Belgian has progressed. Charles De Ketelaere’s creativity and scoring ability is one of the reasons why he is so highly rated.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine