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Franck Kessie unhappy at Barcelona and ‘wants AC Milan return’
FT Desk
- 16 Nov 2022 22:45 GMT
- 3 min read
Barcelona benchwarmer Franck Kessie is fed up of his lack of playing time and already wants to return to former club AC Milan.
That is according to respected Milan journalist Carlo Pellegatti, who reports that Kessie is “totally uncomfortable in the role of substitute” at Barcelona and has “confessed to friends that his desire is to return to Milan, on loan of course”.
Barcelona completed the signing of free agent Franck Kessie on a four-year contract this past summer following the midfielder's departure from Milan.
Kessie’s decision to join Barcelona already raised doubts before the season started due to the sheer abundance of talent in midfield at Camp Nou.
With the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong present, it was always going to be difficult for Kessie to nail down a first-team place.
And so it has proven as he has started just two La Liga games, plus five appearances from the bench for a total of 213 minutes. He has scored just once in all competitions.
Kessie now regrets joining Barcelona and realises that there is little chance of him becoming a regular starter at the club.
However, there seems little prospect of Milan bringing Kessie back to the club after he turned down numerous offers to renew his contract last season before leaving for free.
Kessie at Milan
The Ivory Coast midfielder originally joined Milan in 2017 from Atalanta and 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 by the start of 2022.
He became the latest of a number of high-profile Milan player to leave on a free transfer.
The summer before, the Rossoneri had to watch on as Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu joined PSG and Inter, respectively, on Bosman transfers.
Kessie played his part in Milan winning their first Scudetto in 11 years last season.
Indeed, he scored Milan’s third goal in the 3-0 win on the final day of the season over Sassuolo that clinched the title.
