Charles De Ketelaere spoke to DAZN, revealing Stefano Pioli wants him as a trequartista and reaction to the ‘half Havertz and half Kaká’ comparison.
De Ketelaere joined Milan from Brugge earlier this week and today (Friday) he was presented to the press at Milanello.
After the official press conference, the 21-year-old Belgian had an interview with DAZN, as reported by Milannews.it:
“It took a while to get here and that’s why the tension was building, but now I’m happy to be here. Only the moment I signed the contract and had the jersey in my hands did I say to myself: ‘Okay, now I am a Milan player!’ and I felt really happy.
The Milan project…
“It was not the words that convinced me, but what this Club is doing. It is going back to the top again, we all see it how much the young players improve here, and as they grow they make the whole team grow. They won the Scudetto so it’s a great team to mature in if you’re a young player.”
Who impressed you the most in the first few training sessions?
“Clearly the level of everyone is higher than at Club Brugge: for example, the technical quality of Leão, the finishing of Giroud… all these things. I hope to get to this level as quickly as possible.”
Who was your first opponent?
“I played against Kjær, in 11 vs 11 I was facing him.”
Pioli told that Origi described you as ‘half Havertz and half Kaká’. What do you think?
“Maybe he compared me to Kaká because he also played at Milan, or because of the position on the field. As for Havertz, I think we are not similar, but he is also tall, he is a forward or attacking midfielder and is left-footed – in that we are similar. But I prefer to say that I am just myself and in every game I want to show who I am.”
The first talks with Pioli…
“Before signing, I spoke to Pioli, so I already knew a little bit what he wants. A couple of days ago he showed me with the staff some videos with the style of play he expects from me. I really liked it and I saw myself in that kind of football.”
In what role?
“The one they call ‘trequartista’, but I can do other roles. However, this is the role I need to focus on right now. But it’s the style of play I like; going deep, having freedom around the striker. I can’t wait to express myself in that position.”
Are you one of those players who watches videos of other players to learn their movements?
“Yes, especially if I have to change roles every now and then, I watch videos of those who play in that position to learn and memorize the movements. It’s not like every day I watch football videos though, I do it sometimes before games.”
For example, when you had to watch how a center forward moves, who did you study?
“I watched videos of the best strikers in the world like Lewandowski, Benzema and many others I’m forgetting…”
What about being a trequartista?
“I’ve always really liked De Bruyne, he is one of the best players in Belgium. In my role he is the best, so I watch how he plays.”
But in your language, is there not a word in Belgium for ‘trequartista’?
“No, there is no precise word like in Italian, we just say attacking midfielder.”
In Italy, every number has a meaning: that of 90 is ‘fear’…
“I didn’t know that…”
Is there anything that scares you in your life, in your career?
“I would say ‘no’. I consider myself a humble and calm guy but I believe a lot in myself and there is nothing or no one that scares me.”
If you could change the meaning of the number 90, what would you choose?
“I think I’d choose ‘ambition’, because I am still very young and a have long career ahead of me. I have the ambition to do great things and so I really think I would choose that.”
What is your dream?
“I think the most important thing is to win the Champions League; that is my dream. But now I’m at Milan, I think it’s easier to win it here than in Club Brugge [laughs], so I hope to win it sooner or later.”
