Charles De Ketelaere is one of the key men for Belgium at this World Cup. The old Belgian golden generation is mostly gone — Kevin De Bruyne is still around but nearing the end, Romelu Lukaku is trying to get healthy, and Jeremy Doku is the obvious chaos creator out wide. De Ketelaere sits right in the middle of that transition. The 25-year-old is talented enough to be part of the next core, but experienced enough that Belgium should not have to treat him like a prospect anymore.
His career has already had a little bit of everything. He was one of the best young players in Belgium at Club Brugge, struggled badly after the big move to AC Milan, and then rebuilt himself at Atalanta into a much more useful, confident, and versatile attacker. He is valued at $41.2m, and he has become a regular Belgium international with 28 caps and five goals.
De Ketelaere does not fit neatly into one box. He is 6-foot-4, left-footed, technically smooth, and comfortable as a second striker, attacking midfielder, or false nine. That makes him especially useful for Belgium because their attack may need to change shape depending on Lukaku’s fitness and the opponent. Belgium can still play through Lukaku if he is healthy, but De Ketelaere gives them a more fluid version of the front line.
He also arrives with real momentum for the national team. Belgium qualified unbeaten, and in the 7-0 win over Liechtenstein that sealed their World Cup berth, De Ketelaere scored twice along with Doku. That does not make him a star on De Bruyne’s level, but it does make him part of the answer to Belgium’s biggest question: what does this team look like when it is not just leaning on the names from 2018?