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Last 24 months · all competitions
ST
StrikerMain
6,077 min · 95 apps · 70 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at Atalanta · independent of the season filter
Important
Involvement71%
Performance46%
Through the match on 5 Nov 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Charles De Ketelaere is a Belgian attacker whose game connects finding space with using the ball. Left-footed and comfortable dropping away from the front line, he can receive where defenders must decide whether to follow him. His value also lies in movements that make room for another attacker, rather than always demanding the final pass himself.
Born in Bruges, he joined Club Brugge’s academy in 2009 and progressed to a senior debut in the Belgian Cup in September 2019. The following month he started against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Three consecutive Belgian league titles, from 2019/20 to 2021/22, accompanied that progression from academy football to regular exposure to European opposition.
De Ketelaere moved to AC Milan in the summer of 2022, then joined Atalanta on loan in August 2023. That move placed an attacker capable of playing behind or alongside a striker in a side whose forwards also had demanding defensive jobs.
At Anfield in April 2024, those responsibilities were clear. UEFA’s analysis of Atalanta’s 3–0 Europa League win described De Ketelaere and Gianluca Scamacca staying close to Liverpool’s centre-backs, restricting short passes out of defence. It also singled out his recovery towards Curtis Jones after possession was lost: closing the ball down quickly gave Atalanta a chance to attack again.
He started the Europa League final on 22 May 2024, when Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen 3–0 in Dublin. Ademola Lookman scored all three goals, but De Ketelaere’s contribution to the opener was more subtle. UEFA’s technical observers identified the space he created inside the penalty area, which Lookman then attacked. It was a concrete example of an attacker helping a team score without supplying the finish.
Atalanta announced his permanent transfer in June 2024. His international development had begun earlier: a senior Belgium debut against Switzerland in November 2020 was followed by his first international goal against Italy in the October 2021 Nations League third-place match. He subsequently appeared at the 2022 World Cup against Morocco.
The 2026 World Cup brought a larger scoring contribution. De Ketelaere struck twice in Belgium’s 4–1 round-of-16 win over the United States, then scored again against Spain in the quarter-final. Belgium lost that match 2–1 on 10 July.