Reports are growing rapidly that Barcelona have agreed personal terms with Franck Kessie, who will leave Milan as a free agent in June, beating Tottenham, PSG, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
After Radio Catalunya claimed the Blaugrana were ‘very interested’ in the potential signing, the story developed quickly.
Sportitalia transfer pundit Gianluigi Longari claims there is a verbal agreement between Barcelona and Kessie’s entourage.
He is currently at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast, so has not been able to sign any contracts yet.
However, it seems as if the deal is done and Kessie will join Barcelona for free in July.
His contract with Milan expires on June 30 and for months now it has been obvious he would not agree terms on a new deal, demanding over €8m per season plus bonuses.
Negotiations broke down some time ago and any hope of selling to Tottenham Hotspur in January was rejected by the player’s agent last week.
🚨 Accordo verbale tra #Kessie ed il #Barcellona per giugno quando scadrà il contratto con il #Milan del centrocampista. Nessuna firma per il momento ma i #Blaugrana puntano ad arrivare alla definizione dei dettagli con l’entourage del giocatore. @tvdellosport
— Gianluigi Longari (@Glongari) January 25, 2022
Finally got to the end of this soap opera. Now bench him for the rest of the season. Thank you for everything, rot on the bench you liar.
I won’t miss him, just give me Renato Sanchez
This may be just another story, but yeah i am sick of it. Really liked Kessie and thought he was different, Kessie was president now just Cashanglo# 2.
Disappointing.
The “president” , just like all politicians, liar liar pants on fire
Oh, quit crying, people. I’m sure all of you complaining negotiate and work at jobs that pay what you feel is fair for your services. Football players are no different. They’re human beings and this is their profession. They sign contracts and honor those contracts. Once the contracts end, they have every right to negotiate new deals in a place that serves the best interest of their families. Get over it!
I am praying that Tonali and Pobega will rise above all this. I really hate having players around that you know are leaving. And waiting to leave on a free transfer, just hurts the club, makes it sting more!
May have to pound some Grappa to feel better!
FI just taking punts at any club with money to link kessie with. Just like with ‘credible’ journalism these days, one ‘report’ is bound to come off eventually. jokers.
@Sana, you mean I could have gotten paid for my work all this time??? I thought a pat on the back and a bag of peanuts was normal. And that’s what I’ve been getting for the last ten years!
@ Sana
That is such bull. All that is good and well as long as they won’t LIE. He didn’t need to say he would extend and stay at Milan FOR SURE since last year. They know if they tell the truth the clubs will sell them or might freeze them out, since it’s the clubs right not to invest in a player who is going to leave for free and give that space to another player who will grow. But they hatch their plan with their agents and they lie until it’s too late for the club.
So stop with that once and for all. Your employer at your job hasn’t bought you for millions of euros. The only investment in the experience he provided for you, so the situation is OBVIOUSLY different. I don’t know how people can’t understand such a simple thing. These players are cowards and liars.
Totally agree with Milan Fan.
Kessie is a great player. But if you aren’t staying be forward about your plans.
Bosman rule was created to protect players from club’s greed.
Kessie rule will be there to protect clubs from agent’s/player’s greed.
@milan fan, i see where you get your sense of entitlement from. “Your employer has not bought you for millions of Euros”. That’s where you get it totally wrong…Clubs don’t necessarily “BUY” players. They buy the rights to their services…FOR A PERIOD OF XX YEARS”…. The player has the right to leave or negotiate new deals when that period ends. You’re gonna remain bitter and angry if you keep thinking humans are BOUGHT…Professional athletes are NOT slaves. They are NOT bought. The rights to their services are what’s bought and sold!
If clubs want players for 10 years, they should sign them for 10 years. They don’t do that because they want to leave the option to let a player go if they’re not performing. Therefore, once the contract ends, players should also find the best options for themselves. What if Kessie initially wanted to stay but changed his mind? What if Milan is unwilling/unable to meet his wage demands? Who here has never changed their minds?
@sana what you are saying is totally irrelevant to this situation, he clearly stated to AC Milan and its fans that his intention was to renew with the club,
Kessie :
‘I’m proud to have chose Milan and it is not my intention to leave. Indeed, I want to stay forever.’
‘When I come back from the Olympics, I’ll fix everything.
‘I just want Milan. Sporting director Paolo Maldini knows my thoughts.
‘I want to be the ‘President’ of Milan for life.’
these are his words during the summer transfer window when we could have sold him, he then rejected 3 contract offers that were to values that he asked for, and kept asking for more.
he lied when he did not need to, this is a fact
no one is forcing anyone to stay at the club, no player is or ever will be bigger than the club
but these players are acting like rats by lying to the club and its directors in order to cut the club out of a transfer fee to get a little more for themselves, our club has put time, money and resources into developing these players and then they sneak off in the shadows like the snakes they are, so you can just get over our “entitlement” and shove your opinion
They should sell him in January if possible. May as well get some money for him.
@FERBAN: Unfortunately he claimed that he wanted to stick to the ‘scudetto run’ this year, after Milan accepted offers from Spurs. That’s simply another lie, just to ensure that he walks for free and got the best offer in the summer.
If we sold Kaka, and the sold Ibra and T Silva in one day, trust me there’s no player that will leave that will make me feel down cast. The only problem is will they be adequately replaced. Kaka, Ibra, Silva, Chalnoglu were all not adequately replaced, so my only doubt is if Kessie will be well replaced or we will simply start banking on Pobega. Get the likes of Sanchez Renato, and if not for salary, get coretine Toliso or Pogba, and U will see that we won’t miss a Kessie or any traitor that leaves
@ Sana
lol obviously by bought I meant the playing rights. You’re going on and on about something that doesn’t have anything to do with what I said. Way to twist words to drive home your point when you know it’s totally irrelevant.
For your information, this new trend has UEFA thinking about introducing new rules for the clubs always getting compensation from players even if they run their contracts down AND putting a cap on agent commissions since they are the ones pulling the strings. That’s the only way to protect the clubs, the smaller ones first and foremost. Football is a business of its own now, so for 90% of the clubs in the world, when they invest in a player and buys the sporting rights to him they are making an investments with a view to make a profit later on. It’s the same as nurturing a young players through youth systems only for him to get poached by another club for peanuts. If you don’t see anything wrong with that, then you’re blind.
For example if Dybala leaves on a free, it’s not his fault, he wanted to remain and he had an agreement only for Juventus to change their position. Milan have always been clear with Kessie and Donnarumma, asking them to either accept their offer or let the club sell them, but they CHOSE to be sneaky about it, dragging their heels intentionally while lying to fans to finally leave the club on a free for that big, fat signing bonus for themselves and their agents. There’s a difference.
Football is a different beast to any other thing. You can’t just simply make those comparisons between what these young millionaires do to other simple jobs. Another example : do you or your company have “fans” and does your publicity and success partly depend on them? No, companies have consumers, while the clubs and players have fans who not only invest in them monetarily but also emotionally.
Kessie is not Donnarumma, his agent said it was bs they wanted 8, and then 5.8m was leaked which is failr low if Theo gets 5 offer now
I hope they raise it to 5 +1.5/2m bonuses
I agree though that the power moved to players
Lille has Botman till 2025 and he refused Newcastle waiting for Milan
Double edged sword
Kessie was clearly seeing AC Milan as a stepping stone in his career. You need to let go these type of players.
Unfortunately milan directors need to do more if they want to change the perspective of top performing players.
Too bad milan are not getting any money in this transfer, losing another big one for free after Dollarumma and Hakan…
Milan just crying like babies
Good signing for Barca if true.