"Since 10 days..": Romano reveals Leeds transfer development, supporters surely gutted - opinion

Fabrizio Romano has dropped an update on reported Leeds United transfer target Charles De Ketelaere.

In a recent post on Twitter, the Italian journalist revealed that, despite Victor Orta being reported to have made a €37m (£31m) bid for the Club Brugge KV forward – an offer larger than the €30m (£25.5m) plus bonuses bid submitted by AC Milan – the Serie A side remain in pole position to land the 21-year-old this summer, as the player is prioritising a move to the San Siro ahead of one to Elland Road.

In his tweet, the transfer insider said: “Charles De Ketelaere didn’t play one single minute in the Supercup game between Club Brugge and Gent – no risk, as AC Milan are in talks to sign him. Leeds made an official bid two weeks ago – but AC Milan are leading the race since 10 days as player’s priority.”

Considering just how promising a talent De Ketelaere proved himself to be last season, Romano’s claim that, despite Leeds’ significantly better offer for the Belgium international, it is Milan who are leading the race for the forward’s signature is sure to have left the Elland Road faithful gutted.

Indeed, over his 39 Jupiler Pro League appearances in 2021/22, the £27m-rated attacker was in astonishing form for Alfred Schreuder’s side, bagging 14 goals, registering nine assists and creating 16 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.0 shots, making 1.8 key passes and completing 1.4 dribbles per fixture.

These metrics saw the £17k-per-week talent average a rather sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.25, ranking him not only as his club’s fourth-best performer in the league but also the 13th-best player in the Belgian top flight as a whole.

The eight-cap international also impressed over his six