It is
well-established by this point that Barcelona is currently trying to sell frank kessie this summer, just a year after he joined the club as a free agent.
The 26-year-old midfielder did not have the easiest debut season in Catalonia as competition for places in the centre of the park meant that most of his appearances came off the bench. But he did make some valuable contributions along the way.
Kessie is one of Can Barça’s expendable players, though, and efforts are being made to move him as soon as possible given that raising money and reducing the pay bill are urgent needs.
Inter Milan is once more the team most interested in acquiring Kessie’s talents, as it was in January. It should be noted that the Premier League’s Liverpool and Tottenham are among the 26-year-old’s fans.
SPORT claims that Inter are considering player swaps with the Blaugrana but are unable to spend a significant amount of money on his acquisition.
The report suggests that Barça, for their part, would prefer an outright sale for a minimum fee of €35 million. However, the Nerazzurri are not in a position to spend that much amount on his signing and have instead offered multiple swap options to the Catalan giants.
One of the options offered is forward Joaquin Correa. With Barcelona on the lookout for attacking reinforcements as well, the Argentine international has been presented as a candidate to swap Kessie with, but the Catalans have rejected it.
The next name that has been put forth is that of Denzel Dumfries. It is no secret that the Blaugrana need a new right-back, but they do not consider the Dutchman’s signing as they believe his profile is ‘too attacking’ and have thus rejected that option as well.
Finally, if no other agreement can be reached, Inter and Barcelona could turn to the Marcelo Brozovic option something that was heavily discussed during the winter. However, the Croatian is not a priority target right now with the club focusing on other midfielders. So, a deal could be complicated.
Barcelona are hoping that the Premier League clubs, Liverpool or Tottenham, come up with a sizeable offer for Kessie. While the latter are said to be better positioned, the lack of European football on offer could become a hindrance.
The La Liga champions would ideally wish to close Kessie’s departure in the next three weeks or so. Once Inter Milan’s UEFA Champions League final is done, fresh talks are expected to take place, where his fate could be decided
