Barcelona have completed the signing of Milan midfielder; medical passed, salary agreed

Barcelona are one of the club that have been actively exploring the free market for a while now, and might continue to do so for the next transfer window or two.

After the signing of Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia, Sergio Aguero in the summer of 2021, Dani Alves and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were brought on Bosman moves in the winter.

Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Noussair Mazraoui are other names strongly linked with a Camp Nou switch, while it seems Barça have already completed the signing of yet another free agent in the summer.

According to a report from the reliable Gianluca Di Marzio, Barcelona have signed Franck Kessie from AC Milan on a four-year deal.

The midfielder took his medicals in Lugano, Switzerland, in the last few days, and has agreed to a €7 million annual salary.

Kessie has been one of the best midfielders in Serie A for the past few seasons, and is constantly among the goals playing as a box-to-box midfielder in Stefano Pioli’s double pivot.

He scored 13 goals and assisted four last season in 37 games, and while has not been able to quite touch that mark this campaign, has still been pivotal with five goals.

The Ivorian is in a title race this season with Napoli and Inter Milan. As it stands, Milan sit top of the league with 66 points, with Napoli at 63 and Inter at 60 but with a game in hand.

The deal to sign Kessie is almost done, with only the signatures left. He could very well be the first official signing of the season, with the likes of Christensen and Azpilicueta to follow suit.

BU Says

Barcelona have five central midfielders gunning for two spots in the team right now, and therefore, it would make very little sense to sign yet another one.

However, Kessie is a complete midfielder. His defensive acumen is among the best for his position, which, coupled with his goalscoring and set-piece prowess, make him too good a market opportunity to pass up on.

Further, with no direct replacements for Busquets available in the team, it is not farfetched to assume that Xavi could be thinking of using a double pivot every now and then in an attempt to recreate the control the Spaniard brings.