Phil Hay has dropped an update on the future of reported Leeds United transfer target Charles De Ketelaere.

What's the latest?

In a recent post on Twitter, The Athletic journalist revealed that, despite Victor Orta being more than happy to match both Club Brugge's asking price and the 21-year-old's salary demands, it has been made clear to the Whites' director of football that the attacking midfielder would favour a move to AC Milan ahead of Elland Road this summer.

In his tweet, Hay said: "In terms of what next for Leeds in the transfer market, they're happy to match Club Brugge and Charles De Ketelaere's demands but it's been made clear to them that CDK favours a move to Milan."

Orta will be livid

Considering just how exciting a signing De Ketelaere would be for Leeds, coupled with the fact that the Whites are willing to meet both the club and player's demands in their move for the forward, Hay's update claiming that the Belgium international would nevertheless prefer a move to the San Siro this summer is sure to have left Orta livid.

Indeed, over his 39 league fixtures in 2021/22, the £27m-rated talent undoubtedly proved how exciting a prospect he truly is, scoring 14 goals, providing nine assists and creating 16 big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 2.0 shots, making 1.8 key passes and completing 1.4 dribbles per fixture.

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These returns saw the £17k-per-week forward average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.25, ranking him not only as Brugge's fourth-best performer in the Jupiler Pro League but also the 13th-best player in the division as a whole.

The 21-year-old also caught the eye over his six Champions League outings last season, registering one assist and creating one big chance, as well as taking an average of 1.5 shots, making 1.8 key passes and completing one dribble per fixture.

These metrics saw the eight-cap international average a SofaScore match rating of 6.98, ranking him as Alfred Schreuder's second-best performer in Europe's most prestigious club competition.

As such, it is not difficult to understand why Orta is so keen to secure a deal for De Ketelaere this summer, nor is it hard to see why Hay's latest update regarding the Whites' pursuit of the Belgian sensation will come as extremely frustrating news for the Spanish sporting director and Jesse Marsch alike.

AND in other news: Orta can seal "the best summer signing" as Leeds plot bid for "massive" £17.5m target