Franck Kessie, 26, may be living out his last days as a Barcelona player. The Ivorian midfielder, who signed for Barcelona last summer after arriving on a free charge from AC Milan, will head to his new club in the coming days.
In FC Barcelona, they consider him already sold for a figure close to 15 million euros. It will be an important economic injection, given that the Ivorian arrived at no cost, which will ease his transfer from the wage bill and will also help reduce the problem of financial fair play for Barcelona in La Liga in order to be able to sign new players.
Despite the fact that in his first season as a Barcelona player, Kessie managed to be a good resource for Xavi, even scoring an important goal in El Clásico against Madrid that greatly helped culminate in La Liga, he was not an indisputable player for the Barcelona coach. In addition, he had a good market with the club’s economic needs, which prompted Barcelona to consider selling him.
Despite the fact that Kessé’s initial goal was always to try to stay at Barcelona, he assured Xavi when the coach told him it would be difficult for her to get minutes this season.
However, after making sure in the friendly matches of the American tour that Xavi’s words were serious, because he had barely played 45 minutes in three matches, Kessie finally gave up.
Despite the fact that Juventus had a previous agreement with Barcelona, Kessie was always against returning to Italy, where he had already completed a nine-year term. In the event of having to leave Barcelona, the Ivorian initially only considered playing in the English Premier League or for a senior team in the Bundesliga.
An irresistible offer
However, the offer of the Saudi Al-Ahly club, which doubles his salary in Barcelona to 14 million, ended up convincing Kessie to go and play in the Saudi League, where he will meet a large number of first-level players who moved there this summer.
Indeed, Frank will have players of the stature of Riyad Mahrez, Edouard Mendy, Roberto Firmino and Allan Saint-Maximin. He will face other stars such as Cristiano, Benzema, Brozovic, Kante and Mane.
The Ivorian international player, who was scheduled to undergo a medical examination in a Paris hospital yesterday, before finalizing all the details of the agreement, will sign for a period of three seasons with Al-Ahly.
Thus ends the “president”, beloved in the dressing room, his short period in Barcelona, where he played 43 official matches with him, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
Source: Mundo Deportivo