Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie has not managed to eek out many minutes at Camp Nou and that has fuelled a steady stream of speculation over his future in recent weeks.
Kessie was a starter and key part of the Milan team that won the Scudetto last season, but since arriving at Barcelona, has only featured for 481 minutes. The Ivory Coast international has stiff competition from Gavi, Pedri, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong, but still remains the fifth-least used senior player in the Barcelona squad this season.
Both parties have circulated that they are content with the situation, and that Kessie is still in a period of adaptation. Kessie also missed the last two games before the World Cup with injury and will be out of action until the new year.
However two Premier League clubs are looking to tempt both club and player to cut their losses. Unai Emery would like to strengthen his new Aston Villa midfield, although the €14m Sport report is unlikely to test Barcelona’s resolve much. They carried the report from Total Futbol, who say that Fulham would be willing to bid €22m for Kessie.
The Blaugrana have history of signing and selling players for a profit, as they did with Emerson in 2021. Paying €14m for the remaining 50% of his rights to Real Betis on the first of July, they then sold him to Tottenham Hotspur for €25m less than two months later.
It seems less likely that they might try something similar this time round. Although Pablo Torre seems capable of filling in, should there be any injuries in the Barcelona midfield, they would only have four to call on, including Torre, if they were to sell Kessie.
