(Football news) Leeds United and Arsenal will reportedly suffer a definitive blow in their quest to sign Belgian prodigy Charles De Ketelaere this week as he is close to joining the Serie A champions. According to the Belgian reports this month, Leeds had made an offer to Club Brugge forward De Ketelaere, but he preferred a move to the Italian champions. Arsenal and Lyon were keen on the 21-year-old forward, while Southampton have also been linked with the youngster. De Ketelaere has an agreement in principle with Milan over a five-year contract.
Milan plan to close this deal with Club Brugge for the youngster with an offer of €30 million (£25.44 million) plus bonuses and the Belgian club will most likely accept this bid. De Ketelaere last season scored 14 goals in the Jupiler Pro League for Club Brugge. It looks like the Italian champions are able to strike a deal with Club Brugge, then they will win the race for De Ketelaere. The Premier League teams are set to miss out on one of the best young players in European football at the moment. Rossoneri are looking for a quality player to reinforce the attacking trio and De Ketelaere was always their No.1 target. The youngster who just turned 21 can play both to the right and also in the centre, which is a huge bonus for Stefano Pioli as he looks to build a fluid front three with the likes of Leao and Giroud.
In the last few days the negotiations have seemingly slowed down between the clubs. Milan have agreed to wait until after the Belgian Supercup but now have put in their bid. Leeds United came with a €37m offer for De Ketelaere but he made his intentions clear that he wants to join AC Milan. Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara tabled a €35m offer for Brugge including bonuses. De Ketelaere will get a salary of €2-2.5m per season which is more than double what he earns. The new offer should be the decisive one and Brugge will make a good profit at €35m, so the deal might accelerate in the next few days
Also read: Chelsea forward Armando Broja is set to join West Ham for £30m
