Club Brugge youngster Charles de Ketelaere has hinted he would not be keen on a move to Newcastle United, having spoken to Simon Mignolet about the North East.
De Ketelaere is one of the rising young stars of European football, having established himself as a key player for Brugge over the last year.
This season he has 17 goals and nine assists in 41 games in all competitions, a tally he is likely to add to before the end of the season.
Those are the kind of numbers that have made clubs around Europe stand up and take notice, with several in the Premier League thought to be keen.
Newcastle, with their new financial muscle, are one of those who have been linked, with it recently revealed they were in the picture for a potential €40m deal this summer.
It seems, though, the 21-year-old wouldn’t be interested in a move to St James Park, having been given the lowdown on life in the North-East by Mignolet.
“If it can be done now, why not?” he told Het Laatste Nieuws when asked about his future.
“The Premier League is the highest you can go. That intensity too. In England, you become a better player. But I want to leave everything open.
“My girlfriend, Jozefien, must be able to continue her studies in dentistry in a good way.
“Mignolet once told me that there’s not much to do in Newcastle. And that in winter, it’s dark as early as four o’clock. When you then hear Dries Mertens…”
