Charles Marc S. De Ketelaere (; born 10 March 2001) is a Belgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or forward for club

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

and the Belgium national team.

Club career

Club Brugge

De Ketelaere joined

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

at the age of seven, also working as a ball boy. He also played tennis as a youth, but chose to pursue football. He made his senior debut on 25 September 2019, when he played the full game in the

2019–20 Belgian Cup The 2019–20 Belgian Cup, called the Croky Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 65th season of Belgium's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 26 July 2019 and ended with the final on 1 August 2020. The winners of the competit ...

matchup against

Francs Borains Royal Francs Borains is a football club based in Boussu, Hainaut Province, Belgium. It was founded in 1949 and its home ground is Stade Robert Urbain, which has a capacity of 6,000. The club is affiliated to the Royal Belgian Football Associati ...

. On 22 October 2019, he made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. He started the game and was substituted in the 57th minute with the score of 1–0 to Paris Saint-Germain, the game eventually ended with a 5–0 loss. On 5 February 2020, he scored a goal in a 2–1 win against Zulte Waregem to reach the Belgian Cup final. On 20 October 2020, De Ketelaere scored the game winning goal in the 93rd minute to defeat Zenit St. Petersburg 2–1 in the group stage of the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...

AC Milan

On 2 August 2022, De Ketelaere joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

on a contract until 30 June 2027. Signed for a fee reported to be in the range of €35 million, De Ketelaere however failed to fulfill the initial expectations of the ''Rossoneri'', scoring no goals throughout the entire season and making only nine league starts.

Atalanta

On 16 August 2023,

formally confirmed the signing of De Ketelaere from AC Milan on a loan move with an option to buy. On 20 August 2023, De Ketelaere came off the bench during Atalanta's Serie A match against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

, striking the crossbar before sealing his debut Serie A goal with a precise header. The match ended 2–0 in Atalanta's favor. On 21 September, De Ketelaere marked his presence by netting his first goal in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

match against

Raków Częstochowa Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of natio ...

, contributing to Atalanta's 2–0 victory. De Ketelaere scored 14 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions during his first season at Atalanta; the club made his move permanent on 15 June 2024. Later that year, on 26 November, he scored a brace and provided a hat-trick of assists in a 6–1 away victory over Young Boys in the Champions League.

International career

Charles_De_Ketelaere_Nations_League_2021_Italy

In November 2020, De Ketelaere debuted for the Belgian senior squad as a substitute in a loss to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

for the

2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...

. On 10 October 2021, he scored his first international goal in the third place playoff match loss to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for the Nations League, 2–1. In a

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

match against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, De Ketelaere came on as a substitute

Michy Batshuayi Michy Batshuayi-Atunga (born 2 October 1993) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Belgium national football team, Belgium ...

in the 75th minute.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each De Ketelaere goal.''

Honours

Club Brugge *

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Atalanta *

: 2023–24 Individual * Belgian Promising Talent of the Year: 2020 * Best Youngster of the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

: 2020, 2021 * Dominique D'Onofrio Award: 2020 * Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 2021–22 * Golden Shoe Best Belgian Abroad: 2024

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Ketelaere, Charles 2001 births Living people Footballers from Bruges Belgian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Club Brugge KV players AC Milan players Atalanta BC players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players UEFA Europa League–winning players Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy 21st-century Belgian sportsmen