Franck Kessie confirms Barcelona transfer

FT Desk

• 25 May 2022 17:39 BST
• 3 min read

Franck Kessie has confirmed his exit from AC Milan ahead of his free transfer move to Barcelona.

Kessie’s contract expires at San Siro at the end of next month and he has decided not to sign a new deal.

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It has been common knowledge for some time now that Kessie has agreed a deal to join Barcelona on a Bosman Transfer.

The deal hasn’t been made official yet, but Barcelona president Joan Laporta did confirm recently that they have signed a defender (Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen) and a midfielder (Kessie).

And now, Kessie has confirmed that he is leaving Milan after helping the club to the Scudetto on Sunday.

What did Kessie say?

“These have been five very important years where I really committed to the project,” Kessie told Canal+ Sport Africa.

“I am very happy for the city, the club, my fans, the coach, for me and my whole family.

“It is the last month of my contract here, but in these five years we were able to get back into the Champions League and win the Scudetto.

“I did what I was brought in for and I think this is the best way to say goodbye.”

Milan won their first Scudetto in 11 years on Sunday after winning 3-0 on the last game of the season against Sassuolo.

Kessie scored Milan’s third goal after Olivier Giroud had struck twice earlier in the game.

The Ivory Coast midfielder joined Milan in 2017 from Atalanta and has scored 39 goals in 224 games for the club.

Milan had been keen to keep him and offered him a new deal worth €6 million a year but Kessie was demanding at least €8m and so contract talks eventually ended before the new year.

He is the latest high-profile Milan player to leave on a free transfer.

Last summer, the Rossoneri had to watch on as Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu joined PSG and Inter, respectively, on Bosman transfers.

Milan are in talks with Lille’s Renato Sanches to replace Kessie.