Franck Kessié is the most-sought after midfielder. In terms of the required abilities of a modern-day, the Atalanta midfielder has the lot. He’s tall (6ft), genuinely two-footed, with a superb range of passing, pace, powerful, technically-gifted; able to dribble with the ball, screen the defence, and chip with goals. He’s seen the net 6 times this season which is not bad too bad for a 20-year-old.
It’s proper to call him a ‘box-to-box’ player is somewhat damning with feint praise, as that suggest Kessie is a bit of Jack of all trades. The truth is that he has pretty much seen his stock risen in every role asked of him. Originally a ball-playing defender, he is able to sit in front of the back four, as well as make things happen in the final third.
It is little surprise then that the Ivorian midfielder has been subject of speculation from Juventus and pretty much every top host club in the Premier League. The likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool and recently, report had it that Everton have expressed an interest or scouted the player in recent months according to his agent.
However, it’s believe that Manchester United and Chelsea are leading the race to sign the player who would cost either of the interested part around £40m due to Atalanta’s valuation and the amount of fierce interest in recruiting him. The Blues reportedly made a bid of over £20m in January, and the player himself is United fan.
However, at the look of it, all the clubs interested in him would be ready to part with tens of millions of pounds to secure his services. They will be kicking themselves because they could have got him for less than what Wayne Rooney earns in a week. That’s because a about two years ago the player was available for a stipend, according to his Irish football agent Eamon McLoughlin.
He said: “Two years ago, one of the guys who was working on my recruitment team identified a 17-year-old player from the Ivory Coast called Franck Kessié.
“At the time, nobody had heard of him. I flagged up two of the top six Premier League clubs to have a look at him. They assessed him, and their opinion was: ‘Good player, but we don’t think he’s good enough for us…’
The player subsequently went to Atalanta, around 24 months ago. He will now cost the same clubs, who are now interested in him, £40m. Two years ago, they could have had him for £200k.”