What can Franck Kessie bring to Barcelona?

Franck Kessie’s signing has been sealed by Barcelona and with the Ivorian’s arrival, Xavi gains another midfielder. What can he bring to the club?

Kessie formed in the Ivory coast and signed for Atalanta in 2015. Then in 2017 he signed for Milan, where he has spent the past five seasons. They paid 24 million euros for him. The midfielder will leave for free in the summer to come to Barcelona.

He’s 25 and 1m 83, capable of playing in any of the central midfield positions. He plays with intensity and above all helps with tasks without the ball, defensively and offensively. He’s not elite in technical terms but he has great ability to arrive in the box and has scored six goals this season.

Kessie adds work-rate and kilometres, but is not a purely defensive midfielder. He has only been booked once in Serie A, but was sent off for a double yellow against Atletico in the Champions League. 

The Ivorian is a total central midfielder, loving going up and down in games. His legs allow him to add in attack and recover his position after. He can break lines with the ball at his feet, although isn’t always that precise. One negative aspect of his physical capacity is sometimes he can be anarchic and Xavi will have work to fit him into a positional play game.