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| Frank Kessie of AC Milan controls the ball during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on March 6, 2022 in Naples, Italy. |
After the insisting rumors over the last few weeks, Kessie has formally secured his Bosman move to Barcelona. The midfielder has taken the medicals and signed the contract with his new team. As it is often the case in these instances, the parties will probably wait till the end of the season before making it official.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Ivorian international underwent the physical tests in Lugano and put pen-to-paper in the last few days. He will depart Milan after five years, as he joined from Atalanta in 2017. He has collected 214 appearances thus far, tallying 36 goals and 16 assists.
Kessie will earn €7M per season, including add-ons, at Barcelona, the transfer market expert adds. He will more than triple his salary, as he is currently making €2.2M. The Rossoneri tried to negotiate with him earlier in the season. However, they have long been resigned to losing him. It will be their third high-profile free-agent departure in a short span following Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu.
Instead, Barcelona have specialized on such additions, as Kessie is in good company. They acquired Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia wth this method last summer. They are currently in talks with Andreas Christensen and Noussair Mazroui.
The Rossoneri will lean heavily on Sandro Tonali and Ismael Bennacer in the midfield in 2022-2023. They have two youngsters coming back from loan spells, Tommaso Pobega and Yacine Adli, who will likely be part of the roster. They are also pursuing Lille’s Renato Sanches as a potential replacement.
