Charles De Ketelaere’s excellent start to life as an Atalanta player continues, as he scored a brace last night during their 3-1 victory over Lazio.
As Radio Rossonera recall, De Ketelaere had a disappointing first season in Serie A with Milan as he failed to score a single goal and registered just one assist, quickly losing a starting spot.
A move to Atalanta on an initial loan deal followed last summer and he is now showing why the Rossoneri management invested €35m to bring him to the club after the Scudetto win.
With the brace he scored against Lazio, the Belgian has now hit nine goals and seven assists this season. He spoke after the game and admitted that he is full of confidence.
“Good feelings, I’m going through a good moment. We are happy for this important result,” he said.
“The secret of my growth? I’m trying to learn, following the coach’s advice, but last year in Italy also helped me grow. I haven’t changed.
“Fourth place target? We think game after game, trying to win every time to stay at the top.”
Gian Piero Gasperini has been given credit for CDK’s resurgence given that he has a more prominent role tactically in his system and more freedom to express himself. The Atalanta coach spoke about the 22-year-old after the game.
“He puts a lot of his effort into it, he’s the one who goes on the pitch and puts in these performances. He has found an environment in which he feels good, in recent months he has gained exponentially in confidence,” he said.
“Just look at the penalty, apart from the fact that he takes them well, he tries some difficult plays. He did a lot today, he loses a few balls and recovers them too. We are happy, it was well known that he was a quality player.
“In football we always move forward, he is doing important things, he is playing with ever greater confidence, becoming a point of reference for the team. I think this is the best compliment for him.”
Finally, another former Milan player in Mario Pasalic spoke about what it is like to play alongside De Ketelaere in the playmaker role.
“First of all De Ketelaere is a good boy, he settled in very well very quickly. At Milan perhaps the expectations were too high. We are happy to have him on the team. The goal data is important but the team’s results come first.”
A reminder of the formula of his move to Atlanata: a paid loan costing €3m plus an option to buy set at €22m and a further €2m in bonuses, thus making a total of €27m.
