Franck Kessie is officially a Barcelona player. The Ivorian was presented by his new club this afternoon alongside Joan Laporta and spoke about his delight at joining Barcelona as well as his ambition to work hard and deliver success for the Catalan outfit.
Kessie joins Barcelona on a free transfer from Milan after his deal with the Italian club expired. He’s signed a contract until the summer of 2026 at Camp Nou and has had a release clause of €500m included in the deal. He was a key member of the Milan side that won the Scudetto last season, their first since 2011.
Xavi Hernandez will hope that he can bring that winning experience to Barcelona. They finished 13 points behind Real Madrid last season and ended the campaign with no silverware – forbidden feats at a club like Barcelona. Xavi will hope that Kessie – as hardworking as he is talented – can remedy that.
Laporta welcomed Kessie to Barcelona during the presentation and he was also asked about the future of another Barcelona midfielder in Frenkie de Jong. The Dutchman has been heavily linked with a summer move to Manchester United.
“De Jong is a Barcelona player and we, unless we need to, don’t want to sell him,” Laporta said as carried by Diario AS. “We know he has offers. If at anytime one of them interested us, we would sell him. But right now we’re not going to.”
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— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 6, 2022
