BarcelonaFranck Kessie has returned to Xavi Hernández the confidence placed in him in recent games. The Ivorian has emerged as the fourth midfielder, ahead of Sergi Roberto and Pablo Torre, since Sergio Busquets’ injury against Sevilla has forced the manager to change one of the four central midfield pieces in his eleven of gala The ex-Milan player, with a residual role during the first part of the season – he had only started twice in the League during the 20 games of the first round -, has been chipping away at the stone, silent, until he has been gaining minutes and , now, perform as a starter with the absence of the Barcelona captain.
Kessie will hardly take the place of Busquets, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong or Gavi, but the Blaugrana coach has preferred to give entrance to the Ivorian before returning to a scheme with three attackers, as he lined up regularly at the beginning of the season . the president, nickname he earned when, by mistake, he parked his car in the place of the top leader of Milan and decided not to move it – “Now I’m the president”, he joked -, has also passed by by Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres. Although they do not consider it an immovable approach – especially when Ousmane Dembélé returns –, Xavi and the coaching staff are particularly satisfied with the bet on the four midfielders.
Having a definite pattern has also helped Kessie’s adaptation. The Egarenc technician andstaff they consider the team as a whole, in which each player is part of a “cog”. If the machinery it works, when you have to make rotations or there are injuries it is easier for the new player who enters the eleven to perform better. Barça is going through a process of evolution and Kessie, who came from a football as different as the one he practiced in Milan, has experienced a period of adaptation to Barcelona in the same way that the team as a whole has assimilated the instructions from Xavi
Kessie leaves the teasing behind
The Ivorian midfielder has left behind the mockery and external criticism that defined him as a player out of place or lacking rhythm – despite his physical virtuosity – and has become a useful addition. He has shown this in the last two games. The player is beginning to feel important after the doubts he had in the market last winter, in which he considered returning to Italy, given the interest of clubs such as Inter. Kessie maintains a great record in Serie A, where he played for five seasons in Milan, being a fixture in the eleven – last season he started in 25 of the 31 matches in the championship in which he was available – and until everything was one of those in charge of kicking penalties.
A conversation with Xavi before the winter market dissuaded him from wanting a change of scenery. Although he lacks the qualities of other more gifted midfielders in the squad, he has gained weight in the team. The Ciutat Esportiva narrow it down to an adaptation process and highlight the Ivorian’s ease in not complicating his life: “He plays easily, wins duels and has a great ability to go back and forth”. Against Villarreal, in a match in which Barça lost at times the percentage of possession, his contribution was crucial alongside De Jong: between the two of them they recovered 16 balls (10 for the Dutchman and 6 for the Ivorian ), more than half of the team’s total (30). In addition, the ex-Milan signed a 90% success in the pass and the ex-Ajax, 87%.
Kessie’s future
Kessie arrived this summer on a free transfer, as did Andreas Christensen. But although the signing of the Dane had already been attempted before the pandemic – then Chelsea asked for more than 20 million for his transfer, as explained by the ARA -, that of the Ivorian bears the stamp of Mateu Alemany. Joan Laporta instructed the new director of football to clean up the mammoth contracts inherited from Josep Maria Bartomeu’s mandate, as well as follow up on zero-cost or low-cost footballers, classified as market opportunities. The Ivorian – a reliable professional, who hardly ever gets injured – fit into this guideline, and Alemany calmly cooked up his signing: he seduced him not to renew with Milan, despite the fact that from the entity red and black they insisted on its continuity.
His arrival also represents a risk-free signing because, as a free agent, there are no pending amounts to be amortized and therefore, if he is sold, it would be a direct income. Xavi has Kessie, but the noble offices of the Camp Nou would rub their hands if a good offer arrived this summer for the Ivorian. A renewal of Busquets, the return of Nico and, also, the additional year of the contract that Sergi Roberto will sign may take him away from Barça. His departure would free up around 14 million gross euros. Kessie has half a year to show that she can be too the president at Camp Nou. This is also what his teammates at Barça call him.
