Kessié chose Arabia: he was not convinced by Juventus, but Giuntoli already had an agreement with Barcelona. Journalist Marta Fernandez tells the backstory.
20 million a year convinced Franck Kessié to leave Barcelona to play in the Saudi League, in Al-Ahli. In addition to Juve, Tottenham had also stepped in on the Ivorian midfielder, but what made the difference was the Saudi’s extremely rich signing prospect.
Marta Fernandez, Spanish journalist for Diario SPORT, spoke to calciomercato.it, broadcast on Twitch TV Play channel, to talk about the case of Kessié, who was very close to Arabia after finding an agreement with Juventus, and Mbappé.
“Juve was absolutely ready to take Kessié,” the journalist explained, “they had reached an agreement for a loan with mandatory redemption at 15-20 million, but the player preferred to go to the Premier League. There was interest from Tottenhem, which, however, never made a concrete offer. That is why, in the end, Barcelona accepted Al-Alhi’s 15 million euros for an outright transfer.”
The journalist then spoke about rumors of Luis Enrique’s possible resignation from PSG. “At PSG the situation is complex but Luis Enrique has character, he has never given in to difficulties despite the Mbappé case and the market starting to be a complicated affair. “
Kessié chooses Arabia: “Juventus already had the agreement with Barcelona. “
In Spain there is also talk of Barça’s possible interest in Kylian Mbappé, who is in route with PSG. The interviewee wanted to strongly deny the hypothesis. “I consider it impossible that Mbappé will go to Barcelona. The future does not even know the player. There is a real risk that he could be in the stands for a year. “
Mbappé
“On a hunch I say that in the end, a deal will probably be found with Real Madrid that suits everyone. Mbappé is a symbol in France, and it’s hard in the year of the European Championships and the Olympics in Paris to think that a player like that won’t take the field for an entire season.”
The journalist also spoke about Lenglet, who has been approached by AC Milan. “We got this news from Milan, who would be interested in the French defender from Barcelona. But the player wants to return to Tottenham. Then, he has a high salary and the request is 15 million euros.”
Another denial came on the possibility of a Catalan bid for Chiesa. “Barcelona is not interested in Chiesa because Raphinha, Ferran Torres and even Abde can play in that role, but he can go to Real Betis. “