Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United are reportedly keeping tabs on the situation of 24-year-old AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie.
According to a report by Transfer Market Web, the race to sign Franck Kessie is intensifying. The 24-year-old is being courted by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United, among others, amid his contract standoff with AC Milan. However, he is not opposed to the idea of staying put at San Siro.
Franck Kessie first arrived at AC Milan in the summer of 2017 on a two-year loan deal from Atalanta. The agreement included a clause that would make it an obligation for the Rossoneri to buy the Ivorian midfielder permanently two years later. And the Serie A giants would have had no qualms about the clause being triggered in 2019.
Over the course of his ongoing four-year stay at San Siro, Kessie has blossomed into one of the best midfielders in Serie A and a pivotal figure for Milan. To date, the 24-year-old has turned out 193 times for the Italian heavyweights, chipping in with 31 goals and 15 assists along the way. His progress during this period has also piqued the interest of several European bigwigs, including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United.
The interest from Real Madrid does make sense considering Luka Modric is in the twilight of his glittering career. In addition, Toni Kroos is also on the wrong side of 30, while the likes of Isco and Dani Ceballos are inching closer to the exit door at the Santiago Bernabeu as they do not feature in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans.
So, even though Eduardo Camavinga arrived from Stade Rennais in the summer, Kessie could come in as a handy addition, especially if he joins Real Madrid as a free agent. As for Barcelona, they have been monitoring the 24-year-old’s progress for quite some time now and have been eager to secure his services for a while.
That is because Sergio Busquets is approaching the end of the line in his playing days and could well start getting phased out in a season or two, having shown clear signs of decline in the last few years. And in Kessie, Barcelona would have a near like-for-like replacement, thereby making him a viable target.
Finally, Manchester United have also been keen on signing Kessie, and for a good reason as beyond the ageing Nemanja Matic, they do not have a bonafide holding midfielder in the first-team setup. And the lack of such a player has hurt them enormously at a time when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is facing an uncertain future at Old Trafford.
Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United are all closely monitoring his situation at AC Milan, with the 24-year-old in the final year of his deal with the Serie A giants. And while Kessie is not averse to the idea of staying put at San Siro, he will demand a contract worth €5.5 million a year, regardless of where he plays his football next year.
