DONE DEAL: Arsenal first summer transfer signing is completed- Medical Completed and five-years deal Signed
Arsenal are hoping to bolster their ranks with the capture of one of the brightest young talents in world football.
Konstantinos Karetsas is the next superstar emerging from a Genk academy that counts Kevin De Bruyne, Leon Bailey, and Thibaut Courtois among its famous alumni.
The 17-year-old only made his senior debut for the Belgian side a year ago, but has quickly established himself as a key figure in the team.
Karetsas has scored three goals and registered four assists in 39 appearances as Thorsten Fink’s side won the Belgian Pro League.
The midfielder also won the goal of the season in the country’s top division for his long-range strike against Gent.
Karetsas, who was born in Belgium to Greek parents, represented the Red Devils at youth level before making his senior international bow with Greece in March.
He explained: “If I had played for the Red Devils, I would always regret that I would never be able to play for Greece. I feel really Greek. My heart beats only for Greece, my homeland fulfils me completely.”
Karetsas became the Euro 2004 winners’ youngest ever scorer in only his second appearance, finding the net in a 3-0 win over Scotland.
According to Greece’s news agency AMNA, Arsenal are now ‘very close’ to reaching an agreement with Genk over a deal worth €45million (£37.8m).
Should it be agreed, it would make the diminutive playmaker the most expensive 17-year-old in history – beating the £30m Borussia Dortmund paid to sign Jude Bellingham from Birmingham in 2020.
The report adds that the Gunner’s plan is to loan Karetsas back to his boyhood club, Genk, for another season to aid his development.
Mikel Arteta would then look to draft the teenager, whose current contract runs until 2027, into his squad next summer.
Karetsas, having been born in the small city of Genk in 2007, wasn’t alive when Greece shocked European football three years earlier.
As a schoolboy, he joined local side Racing Genk before a two-year spell in the Belgian capital, with Brussels giants Anderlecht at age 13.
Karetsas’s return to Genk in January 2023 sparked criticism in the local press that the future of such a talent hadn’t been secured.
“The 15-year-old player, who is one of Belgium’s greatest hopes, has decided to leave Neerpede,” wrote Le Soir three months prior.
“Talents such as [Rayane] Bounida and [Chelsea’s Romeo] Lavia had recently left for major foreign clubs, against which Belgian football can no longer compete, but here, it’s a departure to another Belgian club.
“This is the hardest thing to digest for Sporting, which must now also face domestic competition for its most promising talents.”
That September, Karetsas became the youngest debutant in the history of Belgian professional football for second-tier Jong Genk.
Not content with making just one headline, he even bagged the winning assist during a 1-0 victory against Beveren.
Karetsas’ form saw him fast-tracked into the senior set-up, with a host of top clubs interested in his services last season.
His father, Vaios, told reporters in May 2024: “RB Leipzig, Milan and even Manchester City invited us several times to come and have a look. We didn’t like it.
“The only team outside Genk where we had discussions was Ajax. Purely because it is close by and we have a lot of respect for that club. That was just one conversation.
“The second would be about sporting and financial matters, but we had already given our word to Genk at that time.”
