As you will be sorely aware of by now, Leeds United want to sign Charles de Ketelaere, who would prefer a move to Milan.
That has been made clear for a while now, but the Elland Road side certainly haven’t given up, leaving their offer on Club Brugge’s table for the time being.
Leeds seem happy to wait, knowing full well they can pay more than Milan, who are reluctant to meet Club Brugge’s minimum request, which is of around €35m.
Gazzetta dello Sport bring the latest on Friday, explaining the Serie A side ‘do not intend to move’ from their offer of €30m + €2m in bonuses, despite Club Brugge knowing ‘they can have €37m or more probably €40m from Leeds and do not intend to accept less than €35m’.
With this at a standstill, it’s all about trying to work out if something can be arranged, with the ‘days of decisions probably tomorrow and Sunday’.
As things stand, De Ketelaere ‘has clearly told Bruges that he wants Milan, only Milan’.
Regarding a move to Elland Road and Leeds, ‘with all due respect, no thanks’, which is the sole reason the Serie A side ‘are still in the running’.
Gazzetta suggest that ‘it is possible that Milan agree to grant a (low) percentage of a resale to Club Brugge;, which could help bring down the asking price.
That card ‘hasn’t been played yet’, but the Belgian club ‘cannot take too many risks’, since they know their star’s contract expires in 2024 and he doesn’t want to renew it.
This means that ‘not selling him to Milan would mean arriving at a crossroads’, which includes them ‘hoping that Charles accepts Leeds or another destination’, with the Whites offering ‘a better contract than the €2.5m per season offered by Milan’.
The other avenue is him entering the final year of his contract, ‘and to sell a player with a year (or a year and half) of contract for high amounts is certainly not easy’.
Therefore, Leeds still have a chance in all this, but they must first hope that Brugge stand firm in their demand, just like Lille did when it came to Sven Botman and the offer from Newcastle.
If not, Jesse Marsch and his staff will need to focus on someone else.
