Leeds United target Charles de Ketelaere is not busy arranging a transfer away from Club Brugge at this moment in time.
That’s according to manager Carl Hoefkens, who insists the forward is fully focused on his current club at this moment in time.
Leeds have been heavily linked with De Ketelaere for several weeks as Jesse Marsch continues to rebuild the squad he inherited from Marcelo Bielsa.
Raphinha’s departure to Barcelona has only hastened the need to further strengthen their forward line, and De Ketelaere is a name they have been consistently linked with.
Indeed, it has been reported that their bid is better than the one on the table from their main competitors AC Milan, although the player would prefer to move to Italy this summer.
He’s since returned for the Belgian side against Utrecht, though, and is set to feature for them again this weekend, but his manager insists his star man is not in talks with Leeds or anyone else as far as he’s aware.
“Why didn’t Charles play then? He was busy with different things,” he told Het Nieuwsblad.
“Charles had trained well for a whole week, and physically he was ready, but at a certain point, it became a lot for him for a while.
“My assessment was that it was better to give him a moment’s rest. Sometimes we have to take the mental aspect of footballers into account. After training, Charles just re-joined the group, and against Utrecht, he did fine, in my opinion.
“Nobody is – judging by what I see – busy with a transfer. The full desire and commitment are one hundred per cent present.
“I have no complaints about anyone at the moment: every player is training well, and they are all ready to start. I mean that sincerely. But I have to make choices, of course.”
