Barcelona know that in order to strengthen the side this summer, they will need to sell players, preferably for significant fees. However that operation looks even trickier, now that the club have decided to stop actively shopping Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie.
The 26-year-old arrived on a free last summer, and performed well in spurts in the second half of the season, particularly in two Clasico ties.
Yet as someone who had arrived on a free, and without a key role, he was very much seen as someone who was expendable by Xavi Hernandez, and a player that could fetch a decent fee by the management.
As per Sport though, that is no longer the case, with the impending arrival of Deco. The Brazilian-Portuguese believes he is a good player on a long contract and worth keeping around. This goes in tandem with the player’s desire to remain at the club, something Kessie and his agents have made very clear.
As such, Barcelona have decided that Kessie will remain at the club, unless an ‘irrefutable’ offer arrives, both in terms of the club and the player. His departure is also unlikely to free up lots of space in their salary limit unless it is major sale too, meaning they will only listen to offers of €35m or over.
Much like Barcelona’s decision to try and sell Kessie in May, this is unlikely to have much in the way of consequence. He has maintained throughout that he has no intention of leaving the Blaugrana, and until that changes, any chance of a move is off the cards.
