Newcastle target De Ketelaere ready to snub transfer after awful feedback on city from ex-Sunderland star Mignolet
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NEWCASTLE UNITED have suffered a transfer blow after Charles de Ketelaere revealed a former Sunderland star told him “there’s not much to do” there.
The Club Brugge forward has become a hot commodity after scoring 12 league goals in the Belgian top-flight this term.
He also caught the eye when starting in all six of his team’s Champions League group games, which included a draw with Paris Saint-Germain and two clashes with Manchester City.
That has led to Newcastle beginning to draw up plans for a summer swoop for the 21-year-old striker.
However, the big-spending Magpies may have some work to do to land the Belgium international.
His compatriot Mignolet, 34, spent three years in the North East at neighbours Sunderland from 2010.
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And he appears to have done his best to convince De Ketelaere against a switch to Tyneside.
Discussing a move away from Club Brugge, the attacker said: “The Premier League is the highest you can go. That intensity too.
“In England, you become a better player. But I want to leave everything open.”
He then admitted that he had asked goalkeeper Mignolet, who is now his team-mate at Brugge, for advice on Newcastle.
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And it seems to have put him off a potential move there.
De Ketelaere revealed: “My girlfriend, Jozefien, must be able to continue her studies in dentistry in a good way.
“Mignolet once told me that there’s not much to do in Newcastle.
“And that in winter, it’s dark as early as four o’clock.”