Chelsea are reportedly weighing up a summer move for out-of-favour Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie, who wants to stay in Europe amid interest from the Saudi Pro League.
According to Spanish outlet La Vanguardia, Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie is garnering interest from Chelsea and will not join the Blaugrana’s tour to the United States after being told he’s not part of Barca boss Xavi Hernandez’s plans going forward.
The Ivory Coast international is surplus to requirements at Camp Nou, and Barcelona are actively looking to find a buyer. He was a regular starter and a midfield star at AC Milan but has found minutes harder to come by at Barcelona since joining them on a free transfer last summer.
Although he featured in 43 games across all competitions last season, the vast majority of his games came as a substitute. In La Liga, for instance, he only started seven games and came off the bench 21 times.
Throw into the mix the fact that Barcelona’s financial condition is not so fine, and the player has been made available for a transfer away from the club as the Blaugrana look to raise capital from player sales and reduce their wage bill.
To that end, Kessie is garnering a lot of interest from Saudi Arabia, with an offer worth €14 million a year net already on the table. If he completes his move to the Middle East, Barcelona will get roughly €20 million in transfer fees.
However, the 26-year-old does not intend to move to Saudi Arabia at this stage of his career and instead wishes to continue playing at the highest level in Europe, with Chelsea said to have shown an interest in Kessie.
The West London club are in the market for a new midfielder this summer and wants a defensive-minded player to partner £107 million January signing Enzo Fernandez, who excels in playmaking and progressive passing. They made a play for Sporting’s Manuel Ugarte, but he elected to join Paris Saint-Germain instead, forcing them to turn all of their focus on Brighton’s Moises Caicedo.
The Ecuadorian had a fantastic season last season, and Chelsea had two offers rejected in January before paying Fernandez’s release clause, with Brighton set to demand more than £100 million now, according to some reports. Should that prove too difficult or expensive to pull off, the Blues may look at cheaper alternatives.
Even if Caicedo arrives in a blockbuster deal, the Blues would likely need another midfielder to make up the numbers in the engine room after the departures of mainstays like N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, and Mason Mount earlier this summer. Either way, Kessie would certainly fit the bill for the Blues due to the cost-effectiveness of the operation.
The report adds that the 26-year-old would be open to a move to the Premier League with Chelsea as he is keen on the idea of testing himself in England, while Pochettino is a big fan, having previously tried to sign him when he was manager at both Spurs and PSG.
It remains to be seen what kind of offer the Blues put forward for Kessie if they decide to step up their interest, but there’s no denying Todd Boehly & Co. are able to hand him a lucrative contract and pay a good transfer fee to Barcelona.
