Barcelona star does not want to leave, complicating the arrival of defensive midfielder

Earlier today, reports from Italy claimed that Franck Kessie was willing to leave Barcelona for Inter Milan in the ongoing transfer window. It led to the belief that the rumours of a swap deal involving the Ivorian and Marcelo Brozovic could actually come to fruition.

However, now, journalist Gerard Romero is now stating that it is not the case and that Kessie has no desire to leave Barça in the ongoing transfer window, thus complicating the player-exchange operation.

Kessie joined Barcelona in the summer but has been unable to make a major impact during his time at Camp Nou thus far.

Given that he is a bit-part player at best at the moment and the club lack of a natural defensive midfielder to cover for Sergio Busquets, a possible swap deal involving Brozovic appealed to the Blaugrana, with manager Xavi also said to be in favour of the deal.

But, any move would only go through if the Catalan giants are able to convince Kessie to leave, which does not seem to be happening at the moment.

Despite his lack of game-time at Camp Nou, the Ivorian international is understood to be happy and wants to succeed at the club.

In the past, Kessie’s agent has reiterated the same stance that the midfielder is not looking to leave the club in January and is still going through his adaptation process at Barcelona.

The midfielder’s stance means that any swap deal involving Brozovic is now in jeopardy unless Kessie is willing to reconsider his position and open the doors to a transfer to Inter Milan.

With still two weeks left in the transfer window, things could change and the deal could see the light of the tunnel. For now, though, a swap deal involving Kessie and Barcelona seems complicated.