Sky: Atalanta make decision on €22m De Ketelaere clause after attempt to negotiate

Atalanta have decided that they will use their option to buy Charles De Ketelaere permanently and his move should soon be made official, a report claims.

According to the latest from Sky, De Ketelaere will continue his adventure at Atalanta because La Dea have decided to buy the Belgian from Milan. All the details of the operation will be defined today – Thursday 13 June – but the figure is €22m.

It is €1m less than the €23m requested by the Rossoneri last summer when the Belgian moved to Bergamo. Atalanta are not done there either because they like Nicolò Zaniolo and are working on a loan formula, but Fiorentina are also keen on him.

After an unconvincing first season in Italy with Milan, De Ketelaere found his confidence again in Bergamo. He scored 10 goals in Serie A to guide the Nerazzurri towards a return to the Champions League, two in the Europa League with the victory of the trophy and two in the Coppa Italia.

A total of 14 goals and 11 assists convinced the Atalanta management to proceed with the option to buy, even if they did try to negotiate the figure downwards in recent days, leveraging the player’s desire to stay at the club.