Snubbing the chance to move to England last summer and heading to AC Milan, Charles De Ketelaere has had a first season to forget in Italy.
He managed one assist the entire campaign, and has been heavily criticised for his poor form, leading to talk of a potential exit, where Aston Villa could get involved.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who claim that Unai Emery’s side are interested in the Belgian, and could be ready to make an offer for him.
This comes the day after Aston Villa announced the signing of Pau Torres, showing just how ambitious the Premier League side are being this transfer window.
Having bolstered their defence, they are now trying to add more creativity in their team, with Emery clearly thinking about saving private De Ketelaere from his Italian nightmare.
Gazzetta explain Aston Villa ‘are the team that could welcome CDK and guarantee Milan a return of their spending 12 months ago’.
The Serie A side spent €35m to get him from Club Brugge, and while they want most of that back, they know they won’t get all.
The newspaper explain that to avoid a minus on the club’s bank accounts, an offer ‘worth at least €28m is needed’.
At the moment, Aston Villa haven’t made any concrete move, but they are ‘reflecting on an offer of €25m’, while Milan are asking for €30m.
This would be a starting point that can allow for a ‘meeting halfway’, and if the Premier League club decide De Ketelaere is worth it, ‘they won’t hesitate to raise their offer’.
Down their end, Milan feel there’s no point in insisting on making fetch happen with De Ketelaere, having already signed Christian Pulisic from Chelsea to compensate for a potential exit, as the American can work either through the middle or down the right, much like the Belgian.
Therefore, a door has opened for Aston Villa, and we just need to see if they will stick their foot in it or simply leave the opportunity for another interested team.
