Romano: Franck Kessie reaches free transfer agreement with Barcelona

It seems like no matter what, Tottenham Hotspur just can’t stop talking about Franck Kessie. The last time we wrote about him was back in February — at that time, it looked likely that the AC Milan midfielder was likely heading to Barcelona on a free transfer, but there was a spurious (lol) rumor that Barca’s financial difficulties could scuttle that particular deal, re-opening the door that leads to Spurs.

Now maybe we can finally stop talking about him. According to Fabrizio Romano, it’s a here-we-go. Kessie has reached an agreement to sign with Barca on a free transfer when his Milan contact expires in June.

Kessie would’ve been a solid addition to Tottenham’s midfield next year, and it’s clear that Antonio Conte wanted him and admired him, but I’ve also pretty much moved on from him by now, especially after the January signing of Rodrigo Bentancur. Ultimately it comes down to this — Milan was willing to strike a cut-rate deal to get something (anything) for him before his contract expires, but Kessie made the smart choice to keep his options open and move on a free. That’s his right, and ultimately it’s the correct decision as it’s taken him to one of the biggest clubs in world football. Hard to get too upset by that. Annoyingly, his net wages are only ~£105k/wk, which seems pretty reasonable. But whatever.

Spurs are almost certainly going to bolster their midfield options this summer, but they should have plenty of targets. I trust Fabio Paratici to identify and pursue them. Most of them, like Kessie, won’t happen. And that’s okay, because I feel pretty confident that whoever does come will be a solid addition.