Insight

Rising Star - Charles De Ketelaere

The Belgian boy wonder is the latest prodigy to have caught our eye

WORDS Dan Poole
CJ Extra

Age: 20
Club: Club Brugge
Nationality: Belgian
Position: Midfielder/forward
Senior appearances/goals/assists: 89/11/14 

Ah yes, Charles De Ket… Ketel… Ketela… How are we pronouncing this one?

Just imagine it as two female forenames: Kate-Lara.

Gotcha. So tell us more about De Kate-Lara.

De Ketelaere made his senior debut for Brugge aged 18 in September 2019. His Champions League debut came a month later – small matter of a group-stage fixture against Paris Saint-Germain. Since then he’s made a total of 14 appearances in the competition, including all of his side’s games inGroup A this term. He’s also the first Belgian player to score more than one Champions League goal before their 20th birthday; not bad when you consider the competition.

Age: 20
Club: Club Brugge
Nationality: Belgian
Position: Midfielder/forward
Senior appearances/goals/assists: 89/11/14 

Ah yes, Charles De Ket… Ketel… Ketela… How are we pronouncing this one?

Just imagine it as two female forenames: Kate-Lara.

Gotcha. So tell us more about De Kate-Lara.

De Ketelaere made his senior debut for Brugge aged 18 in September 2019. His Champions League debut came a month later – small matter of a group-stage fixture against Paris Saint-Germain. Since then he’s made a total of 14 appearances in the competition, including all of his side’s games inGroup A this term. He’s also the first Belgian player to score more than one Champions League goal before their 20th birthday; not bad when you consider the competition.

Read the full story
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Where does he play?

Increasingly he’s being deployed as a false nine (and has been compared to Liverpool’s Firmino for his selfless team-first efforts), but he’s pretty versatile. So versatile, in fact, that he could well have become a professional tennis player instead, but ended up concentrating on football.

Ace decision. Smashed it.

Yep. Club Brugge legend Gert Verheyen thinks so too. “His versatility is a huge asset. He is complete, with a mix of physical and technical qualities.”

There’s surely a risk that all of this early success will go to his head?

Not by the sounds of it: he still lives with his mum and still has Brugge posters on his walls.

Sweet.

He’s said, “I regularly look back at my matches. My mum sometimes wants to watch together, but I don't like that: everything looks good for her, whereas I prefer to look at it a little more critically.”

Hey, I wonder if his mum is called Kate-Lara?

Let’s leave it there.

Age: 20
Club: Club Brugge
Nationality: Belgian
Position: Midfielder/forward
Senior appearances/goals/assists: 89/11/14 

Ah yes, Charles De Ket… Ketel… Ketela… How are we pronouncing this one?

Just imagine it as two female forenames: Kate-Lara.

Gotcha. So tell us more about De Kate-Lara.

De Ketelaere made his senior debut for Brugge aged 18 in September 2019. His Champions League debut came a month later – small matter of a group-stage fixture against Paris Saint-Germain. Since then he’s made a total of 14 appearances in the competition, including all of his side’s games inGroup A this term. He’s also the first Belgian player to score more than one Champions League goal before their 20th birthday; not bad when you consider the competition.

Insight

Rising Star - Charles De Ketelaere

The Belgian boy wonder is the latest prodigy to have caught our eye

WORDS Dan Poole

Text Link

Age: 20
Club: Club Brugge
Nationality: Belgian
Position: Midfielder/forward
Senior appearances/goals/assists: 89/11/14 

Ah yes, Charles De Ket… Ketel… Ketela… How are we pronouncing this one?

Just imagine it as two female forenames: Kate-Lara.

Gotcha. So tell us more about De Kate-Lara.

De Ketelaere made his senior debut for Brugge aged 18 in September 2019. His Champions League debut came a month later – small matter of a group-stage fixture against Paris Saint-Germain. Since then he’s made a total of 14 appearances in the competition, including all of his side’s games inGroup A this term. He’s also the first Belgian player to score more than one Champions League goal before their 20th birthday; not bad when you consider the competition.

Age: 20
Club: Club Brugge
Nationality: Belgian
Position: Midfielder/forward
Senior appearances/goals/assists: 89/11/14 

Ah yes, Charles De Ket… Ketel… Ketela… How are we pronouncing this one?

Just imagine it as two female forenames: Kate-Lara.

Gotcha. So tell us more about De Kate-Lara.

De Ketelaere made his senior debut for Brugge aged 18 in September 2019. His Champions League debut came a month later – small matter of a group-stage fixture against Paris Saint-Germain. Since then he’s made a total of 14 appearances in the competition, including all of his side’s games inGroup A this term. He’s also the first Belgian player to score more than one Champions League goal before their 20th birthday; not bad when you consider the competition.

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

Where does he play?

Increasingly he’s being deployed as a false nine (and has been compared to Liverpool’s Firmino for his selfless team-first efforts), but he’s pretty versatile. So versatile, in fact, that he could well have become a professional tennis player instead, but ended up concentrating on football.

Ace decision. Smashed it.

Yep. Club Brugge legend Gert Verheyen thinks so too. “His versatility is a huge asset. He is complete, with a mix of physical and technical qualities.”

There’s surely a risk that all of this early success will go to his head?

Not by the sounds of it: he still lives with his mum and still has Brugge posters on his walls.

Sweet.

He’s said, “I regularly look back at my matches. My mum sometimes wants to watch together, but I don't like that: everything looks good for her, whereas I prefer to look at it a little more critically.”

Hey, I wonder if his mum is called Kate-Lara?

Let’s leave it there.

Age: 20
Club: Club Brugge
Nationality: Belgian
Position: Midfielder/forward
Senior appearances/goals/assists: 89/11/14 

Ah yes, Charles De Ket… Ketel… Ketela… How are we pronouncing this one?

Just imagine it as two female forenames: Kate-Lara.

Gotcha. So tell us more about De Kate-Lara.

De Ketelaere made his senior debut for Brugge aged 18 in September 2019. His Champions League debut came a month later – small matter of a group-stage fixture against Paris Saint-Germain. Since then he’s made a total of 14 appearances in the competition, including all of his side’s games inGroup A this term. He’s also the first Belgian player to score more than one Champions League goal before their 20th birthday; not bad when you consider the competition.

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