Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie is being targeted by Al-Ahli with the Ivorian midfielder deemed surplus to requirements at Camp Nou.
According to Fabrizio Romano, a formal proposal for the Ivorian midfielder is expected soon. This comes after the Saudi side had been linked with a move for Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat.
Amrabat, however, has given his priority to clubs in Europe according to the Italian journalist. With Manchester United reportedly very interested in signing the Moroccan international midfielder.
For Al-Ahli, they are now turning their attention to the former AC Milan midfielder and could be able to afford the Barcelona man, who is seemingly surplus to requirements at his current club.
Kessie earns around £100,000 a week according to Sport.
An interesting comment from Xavi, Barcelona’s head coach, came when the Spaniard was speaking to reporters after the Spanish side beat AC-Milan.
“Franck Kessie did not play due to a slight illness,” he said, before adding: “Regarding his future, he knows exactly what the situation is.”
Barcelona need to sell to buy
The Ivorian, who was at Atalanta and Milan before joining Barcelona last summer, looks set to depart as Barcelona’s financial fair play concerns cause issues for the Spanish side in their search for reinforcements this summer.
Having already signed former Chelsea and Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu, Barcelona are in need of defensive improvements now and are currently negotiating a deal for Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo according to Fabrizio Romano.
Barcelona will need money to be able to fund these moves and are negotiating the exit of Ousmane Dembele according to The Athletic but that money won’t be enough to sign Cancelo, you’d think.
So the sale of Kessie and defender Clement Lenglet may well be needed for the Catalan side to pull off the deal.
Kessie to Al-Ahli would bring the midfield quality that they are crying out for following the improvements they’ve made in their front three.