Konstantinos Karetsas’ emergence in Belgium has caught the attention of Manchester City, according to Het Laatste Nieuws.
The 16-year-old spent three years at Anderlecht’s academy before returning to KRC Genk in 2023.
Karetsas is one of the brightest prospects in Belgium and clubs across Europe, including Manchester City, have taken notice of him.
The midfielder made his senior team debut for Genk, when he came off the bench against Cercle Brugge earlier this month and made his first start against Royal Antwerp last weekend.
HLN got in touch with the wonderkid’s family after his latest achievements for the Jupiler Pro League side. His father, Vaios Karetsas, has revealed Manchester City’s approach.
The newspaper says the teenager is a ‘super talent’ and decided to leave Anderlecht due to a disagreement with their officials.
“He learned a lot there and was able to complement his education. So why did we choose to return to Genk? That mainly had to do with problems at Anderlecht’s board. Jean Kindermans was on his own at the time and we didn’t want to risk our son’s future,” he said.
“Moreover, Kos has always remained a top Genk supporter. Genk had also indicated they absolutely wanted to bring him back. Dimitri de Condé and Erik Gerits proposed an elaborate sporting plan to us. We thought it was too early for the move abroad.”
Konstantinos’ father says Pep Guardiola’s side made attempts, but that move was never taken into consideration.
“RB Leipzig, Milan and even Manchester City invited us several times to come and have a look. We didn’t like it,” Vaios explained.
“The only team outside Genk where we had discussions was Ajax. Purely because it is close by and we have a lot of respect for that club. That was just one conversation. The second would be about sporting and financial matters, but we had already given our word to Genk at that time.”
Manchester City could return for Konstantinos in the future, more so if he were to shine for Genk in the coming seasons.
