The De Ketelaere Paradox: When a Striker Is Pushed to the Wing

On 12 September, Charles De Ketelaere produced one assist. It was his only assist in club colours so far this season — a modest number, easy to overlook amid the hundreds of transfer stories published every day. But only weeks earlier, the same player had scored three goals and set up three more for the Belgium national team, across World Cup qualifying and the Nations League. The same feet, the same mind, the same stretch of time — and two completely opposite outcomes. I have followed De Ketelaere since his Club Brugge days. The boy reminded people of a classic type: slow, calm, reading the game like a book he already knew by heart. Yet now, every time I watch him play, I feel I am looking at an artist forced to stand in the wrong spot on the stage. People see the contract; I see the people sitting behind the negotiating table. And De Ketelaere's story, in the end, is the story of a position pulled out of shape — not of a talent fading away. Context: from San Siro to Bergamo To understand what is happening, it helps to recall De Ketelaere's path. Born in Belgium in 2026, he came through at Club Brugge and was quickly regarded as one of the brightest talents of Belgium's new generation. In 2026, AC Milan brought him in for a fee reported at around 35 million euros. But at San Siro he could not find a foothold. The pressure of an expensive contract, combined with a system that did not suit him, pushed him into the shadows. In the summer of 2026, Atalanta signed him on loan and then made the move permanent. That was the turning point. In Bergamo, De Ketelaere revived, becoming a key link in the club's blazing attack. He scored, he assisted, and — more importantly — he had a clear role: a deep-lying forward who connected midfield and attack. Then this season arrived. Atalanta's squad changed. New strikers appeared — Krstovic, Scamacca — and suddenly De Ketelaere's central spot was gone. The coaching staff pushed him to the right wing, or dropped him deeper as an attacking midfielder. On paper, that is flexibility. In practice, it is a risky role change. And what is worth noting is that this is not the first time football has seen a player pulled away from his natural position simply because the team needed to plug a temporary gap. Core analysis: defensive ground and its price Look at what the position demands. On the right wing, a player must cover plenty of defensive ground — tracking back, contesting duels, running the flank, marking the opposing full-back. These are unnatural demands for someone whose value lies in build-up play and finishing. De Ketelaere is not the type to run endlessly. He is the type to pick his spot. He wins by standing in the right place, releasing the ball at the right rhythm, playing the pass nobody else sees. Put him on the wing and you take away his sharpest weapon. Compare him with his direct positional rivals. Krstovic and Scamacca are pure centre-forwards. They live in the box, contest, hold off defenders, head the ball. De Ketelaere does not duel as well as they do, but he links play better than they do. In a deep-lying forward role, he can drag defenders out, open space for teammates, and still arrive to finish. The result is a statistical paradox. One club assist, against three goals and three assists for the national team. That gap is not a matter of form rising and falling. It is the product of two different deployments. For Belgium, De Ketelaere is placed at the centre of the system. At Atalanta, he is pushed to the margins. The same man, two fates. And in modern football, where everything is measured by data, a player deployed in the wrong position can look exactly like a player who is finished. I have seen this same pattern many times in my career as an observer. From the World Cup stands, I saw a transfer market that has never been told — and part of it is players mispriced simply because they were used in the wrong place. What is striking is that De Ketelaere still retains his core qualities. Tactical vision, the ability to hold the ball in tight spaces, composure under pressure. These do not vanish just because he has to run the flank. They are simply left unused. The contrarian angle: the trap called versatility Here, I want to speak directly to what the media likes to call De Ketelaere's inconsistency. The official story goes: he is talented but erratic, hot and cold, lacking the character to hold down a place. But that is a lazy reading. The truth lies elsewhere: De Ketelaere has not declined. He was stripped of his role. A violinist asked to play the drums is not a bad musician. He is simply playing the wrong instrument. The blind spot lies in the word versatility. Modern football worships flexibility. Coaches want players who can fill several positions. But versatility without a fixed role becomes a curse. It turns a player into a spare piece for every gap, rather than a pillar of a plan. De Ketelaere can play striker, winger, or attacking midfielder. Precisely because of that, he can be placed anywhere — and is poor everywhere. There is one more thing to say. I have read some recent analyses, and a few details about the coaching staff struck me as needing verification. At 62, I no longer chase breaking news; I wait to see how people keep their word. For a young player, one wrong detail about a position or a manager is enough to tilt the whole story. What comes next De Ketelaere is only 24. He still has a whole career ahead of him. The question is not whether he has enough talent — but whether anyone will put him in the right place. If Atalanta keep using him on the wing, the numbers will keep telling the story of waste. If another club sees his true value in the centre, there may be another transfer — and this time, a transfer of liberation. The transfer market is sometimes decided by things that never appear on a stats sheet. A player used in the wrong place, an impatient coach, a contract signed in haste — together they set off dominoes no one foresaw. For De Ketelaere, the next domino may be an exit. The question is not where he will go, but: when will football stop judging people by the wrong position?