Barcelona reportedly sign Franck Kessie
Barcelona make their second signing ahead of next season
The planning for next season has already begun for Barcelona as they have reportedly signed AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the club reached a four-year deal with Kessie that will see him earn net wages of €6.5 million a season.
https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1506264869481373700
His contract with the Serie A side ends this summer and he made his intentions known that he was not going to sign an extension.
Barcelona saw an opportunity to get a highly-rated player on a free deal and, pending official confirmation, have done so.
Kessie becomes Barcelona’s second signing after Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen.
The signing has raised some eyebrows, however.
With Christensen, the logic is there in that he is also going to Barcelona as a free agent, in a position the Catalan side needs depth. One of their goals during the summer is offloading Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet and Oscar Mingueza. With up to three defenders on their way out, they needed to sign a center-back and chose Christensen.
With Kessie, it’s a little different.
One can argue that the Blaugrana’s greatest strength under Xavi has been the midfield. He counts on the likes of Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Nico and Riqui Puig.
Puig and Sergi Roberto look to be on their way out but it still leaves a number of players theoretically ahead of Kessie. The question then becomes who loses minutes in order to accommodate Kessie?
That is the question Xavi will need to solve. It could also have a negative trickle-down effect in Barcelona’s attempt to sign Gavi to an extension.
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In the meantime, according to Sport, Kessie isn’t going to be their last signing. Barcelona is also working on incorporating Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta and Ajax’s Noussair Mazraoui.