Franck Kessie is officially a Barcelona player. The Ivorian was presented by his new club 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.
Franck Kessie was born on 19 December 1996 in Ouragahio in the Ivory Coast. The midfielder started his career at Stella Club d’Adjame in his home country before moving to Italy in 2014 to sign for Atalanta.
Kessie started in the youth teams at the Bergamo based club and he soon made the jump to professional level with a loan move to Serie B side Cesena. The Ivorian played in midfield and at centre back for the Emilia Romagna club and impressed enough for new Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini to bring him back to Bergamo with Kessie gradually becoming an important first team squad member after scoring twice on his Serie A debut.
After an excellent 2016/17 season with Atalanta,K essie attracted the attention of Serie A giants AC Milan. The midfielder signed for the rossoneri in 2017 on loan before the move was made permanent in the summer of 2019, Milan paying 33 million euros for Kessié.
His five seasons with AC Milan showed Kessie to be the complete midfielder, scoring goals, providing assists and working hard defensively. His time at Milan ended on a high with the Ivory Coast international helping the club to their first Serie A title in 11 season in 2021/22.
Franck Kessie is a player who contribute in attack and in defence. Capable of winning the ball back in midfield, the African midfielder also has impressive stats as a goalscorer, partly due to his ability to make runs into the penalty area.
