‘Exceptional’ player rejected £7m-a-year Spurs contract, may yet be sold

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AC Milan could still sell Franck Kessie even though the midfielder turned down a £130,000-a-week contract at Premier League giants Spurs, as reported by Calciomercato. 

Thanks to Kessie’s agent, we know for a fact Tottenham Hotspur’s interest in the Ivory Coast international is more than paper talk. 

“I know that, in addition to Inter, there are two Premier League teams interested in him, including Tottenham,” Massimo Brambati told TMW in June. 

Two months on, we finally have some more information on Tottenham’s pursuit of the one-time Atalanta starlet – and why Kessie turned down the chance to swap the San Siro for north London. 

Will Spurs go back in for Franck Kessie?

According to Calciomercato, Spurs offered a man often compared to Ivorian legend Yaya Toure a contract worth almost £7 million a season – or £130,000 a week. 

However, Kessie had no interest in leaving a Milan side on the up under Stefano Pioli, especially after the Rossoneri qualified for the Champions League after a seven-year absence. 

But with his contract expiring next summer, the chances are Kessie will leave Milan after all, albeit against his wishes. 

The seven-time European champions are operating on the most stringent of budgets during the covid-19 era and haven’t come close to meeting Kessie’s wage demands in negotiations over a new deal.

In fact, their most recent contract offer of £105,000 a week fell well short of the pay packet put forward by Tottenham.  

“The renewal of Kessie? There is a common line, we must do what is sustainable,” says club legend turned technical director Paolo Maldini.  

It’s understood Milan would rather sell Kessie now than lose him on a free transfer in 12 months’ time.  

But when you consider how integral the 24-year-old is to Pioli’s plans – he is the military-grade glue that holds an often inexperienced midfield together, a leader on and off the pitch – it’s worth remembering there’s more to life than money, even in pandemic times.

“He (Kessie) is an extraordinary player, with sublime intelligence,” said former manager Vincenzo Montella, via Goal.