Barcelona are aiming to complete one big sale in the coming week in order to address their Financial Fair Play situation and everything indicates that the departing player will be Franck Kessie, reports Ferran Martinez of Mundo Deportivo.
Kessie has been at the club for only one year, but given the economic situation, the Catalans need at least one major sale or even more. And as things stand, all signs point towards the Ivory Coast international being forced out.
Juventus appeared to be leading the race to sign Kessie from Barcelona, but the aforementioned report states that the 26-year-old might not return to Italy and instead end up in the Premier League in England.
Is Franck Kessie moving to the Premier League?
Only earlier today, reports in Italy claimed that Barcelona and Juventus had reached an agreement over Kessie. The 26-year-old was to join the Bianconeri on a season-long loan with a mandatory purchase clause worth €10-15 million.
However, that does not appear to be the case as Barça are keen on generating revenue right away from his sale and loaning him would not serve that purpose. Furthermore, Kessie does not wish to return to Italy having spent almost his entire career there.
As such, his priority, if he were to leave Barça, would be the Premier League. And, it appears that the Blaugrana are also working towards the same goal.
Ideally, Kessie would prefer to sign for one of the Big Six of England – Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, or Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, the latter are said to hold an interest in him as well.
Clubs such as Aston Villa and Wolves, who have done deals with Barça in the recent past, are also keeping an eye. As such, there appears to be a good chance that Kessie, whose market value stands at €25 million, ends up in the Premier League and not in Juventus.
Who are the other potential players to leave Barcelona?
Kessie has maintained that he wishes to succeed at Barcelona, but is likely to be shipped off given the need of the hour. And he might not be the only first-team star to be offloaded.
Ferran Torres is another candidate to depart Barça, with the club hoping to sell him for €40 million or loan him out for two years.
Eric Garcia has fallen down the pecking order following the arrival of Inigo Martinez and offers will likely be studied for him. Out-of-favour players like Sergino Dest and Clement Lenglet are also on the transfer list.
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