In a recent report, Calciomercato claimed that West Ham United are facing stiff competition for Club Brugge attacker Charles De Ketelaere. It is understood that the Hammers will have to compete with Everton, Napoli and AC Milan in the race to land the Belgian centre-forward.
De Ketelaere’s Excellent Form In Belgian Football
The 20-year-old has made an excellent start to this campaign after putting in some mesmerising displays as the focal point of Club Brugge’s attack. De Ketelaere has found the back of the net four times and grabbed three assists in 13 matches for the Belgian outfit last season in all competitions.
The Brugge-born talent has been a joy to watch in Belgian football as he is averaging 3.3 shots, 2.6 key passes and 1.8 dribbles per game in the Jupiler Pro League. However, he has been a bit sloppy when distributing the ball deep inside the opposition half based on his pass success rate of 72.5% in the Belgian first division (stats via whoscored).
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Is De Ketelaere The Right Choice For West Ham United?
De Ketelaere has decent pace under his belt and can make some intelligent runs with the ball in the attacking third of the field. He excels at creating a yard of space for himself to get a few shots in at goal.
The Belgian striker can even create some decent openings for his teammates up top. However, he is still quite inexperienced at the highest level, so the Hammers will have to be patient with his progress if they end up winning the race for him next year.
Right now, West Ham need to add a fresh face to their attack as Michail Antonio remains their only recognised senior centre-forward. De Ketelaere could turn out to be a decent choice for the East London outfit as he is already good enough to serve as a capable back-up to Antonio at the London Stadium in the coming seasons. Thus, David Moyes would be wise to engineer a concrete move to bring the Belgian youngster to the English capital.
