AC Milan overcame competition from Leeds United to sign Charles De Ketelaere from Club Brugge at the start of this month.
The Whites were keen on securing the 21-year-old’s services and their interest was also confirmed by their chairman, Andrea Radrizzani.
Tom De Mul and Yama Sharifi, the Belgium international’s agents, revealed Leeds made a “very concrete” effort to sign their client. The representatives also stressed the Premier League side’s proposal were more attractive financially for the forward.
In the end, it was the Rossoneri who were successful in acquiring the player’s signature. His agent admitted moving to the San Siro “was the choice of his heart”.
Belgium manager Roberto Martínez was asked to weigh in on De Ketelaere’s decision to snub Leeds for Milan.
“Charles has thought deeply about it. He chose AC Milan because he had the best feeling about it. I can understand that,” Het Belang van Limburg quoted Martínez as saying.
“AC Milan have come to Belgium. The manager has talked to Charles, technical director [Paolo] Maldini too. When you pay €35m, you believe in that player.
“We don’t know how long it will take [for] him to adapt, because it is an immense competition with immense pressure. Remember, he is still only 21 years old. But the choice was made in a good, rational way.”
De Ketelaere made his debut for AC Milan when he came off the bench in their 4-2 win over Udinese on Saturday.
