Club ‘no longer have Leeds as ally’ in transfer chase – Whites ‘off the scene’ for signing

On Wednesday, Het Laatste Nieuws stated Club Brugge have a ‘much nicer offer’ of €40m from Leeds United for Charles De Ketelaere.

Later that day, Belgian journalist Alexandre Braeckman explained the Whites are ready to steal the 21-year-old if AC Milan cannot manage to close the deal soon.

Milan technical director Paolo Maldini made a trip to Belgium yesterday and had a meeting with Club Brugge.

The Belgium international held talks with Maldini and directly informed him of his desire to join the Serie A winners. For several weeks, the forward has had agreed deal worth €2.5m per year with Stefano Pioli’s side.

That’s according to Calciomercato.it, who state Maldini has presented a new offer of €30m including bonuses for De Ketelaere. Leeds’ €40m offer is again highlighted in the report.

It’s explained Club Brugge ‘no longer have Leeds as an ally’ and that makes it easier for Milan to convince the former to land the Belgium international.

Maldini told Club Brugge CEO Vincent Mannaer his side can no longer use Leeds to get a better deal from Milan as the Premier League side are ‘off the scene’.

Although Milan’s offer is lower than that of the Whites, they have included a percentage [not low] on De Ketelaere’s future sale. There’s still a distance between the two clubs over the valuation.

Given this is an Italian slant, it’s obviously favourable to AC Milan, so all hope may not be lost for Leeds United yet. Similar was said about Sven Botman and Newcastle, and he ended up joining the Magpies in the end.