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Insight

Rising Star - Charles De Ketelaere

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

WORDS Dan Poole

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.

Rising Star - Charles De Ketelaere
Insight

Rising Star - Charles De Ketelaere

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

WORDS Dan Poole

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.

Penalty Pedigree

Etiam erat velit scelerisque in dictum non. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at. Scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Nibh tortor id aliquet lectus proin nibh nisl. Nulla at volutpat diam ut venenatis. At urna condimentum mattis pellentesque id nibh tortor id aliquet. Leo a diam sollicitudin tempor id eu nisl nunc mi. Dui vivamus arcu felis bibendum ut. Pharetra convallis posuere morbi leo urna molestie. Adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. In arcu cursus euismod quis. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at lectus urna duis. Facilisi nullam vehicula ipsum a arcu cursus. At tempor commodo ullamcorper a lacus vestibulum sed arcu non. Ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant. Vitae sapien pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus. Eget nullam non nisi est sit amet facilisis. Ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam. Elit sed vulputate mi sit amet mauris commodo quis. Pretium fusce id velit ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti.

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.

Penalty Pedigree

Etiam erat velit scelerisque in dictum non. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at. Scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Nibh tortor id aliquet lectus proin nibh nisl. Nulla at volutpat diam ut venenatis. At urna condimentum mattis pellentesque id nibh tortor id aliquet. Leo a diam sollicitudin tempor id eu nisl nunc mi. Dui vivamus arcu felis bibendum ut. Pharetra convallis posuere morbi leo urna molestie. Adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. In arcu cursus euismod quis. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at lectus urna duis. Facilisi nullam vehicula ipsum a arcu cursus. At tempor commodo ullamcorper a lacus vestibulum sed arcu non. Ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant. Vitae sapien pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus. Eget nullam non nisi est sit amet facilisis. Ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam. Elit sed vulputate mi sit amet mauris commodo quis. Pretium fusce id velit ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti.

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