Barcelona look set to win the race to sign AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, beating Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur to his signature.
That’s according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, who claims Kessie is now excited to join Barcelona this summer.
It’s stated that Kessie has rejected offers from two Premier League clubs in favour of taking less money with Barcelona.
Out of contract at AC Milan this summer, Kessie has been in-demand as a free agent and now appears to be heading for Catalunya.
To add to these claims, Tuttomercatoweb claim that Tottenham ‘immediately pulled out of the race’ to sign Kessie during talks.
Juventus did the same, with Barcelona emerging as the clear favourites to sign the Ivorian as they focus on free signings.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Noussair Mazaroui could all join Barcelona for nothing too, with Xavi’s influence key on these free agent additions.
Tottenham will now have to look elsewhere for a new midfield signing and it looks like Newcastle will have to do the same too.
La Repubblica claim that Newcastle wanted to bring Kessie to St James’ Park given that they have big money to spend thanks to PIF.
It certainly adds up that Newcastle would have been one of the clubs to offer even more money than Barcelona did, but not quite being able to convince him to join.
Newcastle may have money, but they are still in the infancy of their new project and will face battles trying to sign established stars in Europe.
It now looks like Kessie will be joining Barca, with the midfielder – branded ‘devastating’ by Antonio Cassano – set for his big move after five years with Milan.
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