It seems as though we’ve been talking about the Franck Kessie exit for a long-time, but it may be confirmed within hours with the Ivorian midfielder accepting a 3-year contract offer from Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli. The Saudi team have also sent a €15 million offer to the Barca offices and we’re awaiting confirmation of whether that’s been accepted or not.
Al Ahli have just submitted official bid for Franck Kessié! Proposal arrived in Barcelona offices — €15m fee 🚨🇸🇦
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 3, 2023
Understand Kessié has accepted three year deal offered by Al Ahli, up to final details.
Deal very close, advancing also with Barça ready to sell Franck. pic.twitter.com/kKgpfmWD74
Football insider Fabrizio Romano confirmed the details, and he confirmed that Barcelona is ready to pull the trigger on the transfer.
Earlier today we reported that Kessie was open to a move to Saudi Arabia, as long as the financial package was lucrative enough, and it seems he got the offer he was looking for.
Kessie arrived on a free transfer last summer, so any transfer fee will be seen as a profit in Catalonia, and 50% of the fee can be reinvested in the playing squad, adding €7.5 million to the transfer kitty.
Barcelona will use the money from Kessie on the Cancelo deal
It’s likely that with the money from the Kessie transfer and Dembele transfer, Barca will look to accelerate their pursuit of Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo.
Xavi has been very open with the former AC Milan midfielder this off-season, confirming that he didn’t see him as part of the first-team set-up with Barca looking to defend their La Liga title.
Juventus had been considered the favourite for his signature, but Kessie has always been hesitant to return to Italy, for reasons unknown. Tottenham was also linked to Kessie, but it seems as though he’ll join a number of players in heading East to the money-rich Saudi league.
It was a frustrating season for Kessie who only played a bit-part role, and despite him believing that his best was yet to come after a year of adjustment in La Liga, it seems as though he’ll never get the chance to prove it.
Once the deal for Kessie and Dembele is confirmed, it’s likely that Barca will focus on the exit of Clement Lenglet and Sergino Dest.
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