Liverpool in running to sign “devastating” £30m gem, he’d be instant Henderson upgrade –
Franck Kessie’s Barcelona career has not taken off, and the former AC Milan midfielder could get the chance to show his quality at Liverpool.
As Jordan Henderson edges ever closer to the Liverpool exit, a ready-made upgrade in Franck Kessie could be set to join from Barcelona.
What is the latest Liverpool transfer news?
Liverpool captain Henderson, as well as midfield team-mate Fabinho, are widely expected to join clubs in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
Despite signing Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, those exits would leave Jurgen Klopp light in midfield as James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have also left this summer.
Romeo Lavia is believed to be Klopp’s priority midfield target, but The Athletic’s David Ornstein has reported that the Reds’ initial bid of £37m has been rejected – and might be some way short of the Saints’ own valuation.
Plenty of other alternatives have been linked with the Premier League heavyweights, including Barcelona’s Kessie. According to reports in Spain on Tuesday, Kessie has turned down advances from teams in Saudi, while Barca are reluctant to entertain Juventus’ offer of a loan deal as they want cash.
Liverpool are said to be one of numerous English clubs in the running to sign Kessie, whom Spanish outlet Sport previously suggested the Reds value at €35m (£30m), with fellow big-six sides Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea also showing an interest.
How good is Franck Kessie?
Kessie has been on the radar of Premier League teams for a number of years now, right from his days with Atalanta, which ultimately paved the way for a move to AC Milan in 2019.
After three years at San Siro, Kessie arrived at Barcelona 12 months ago on a free after his deal with Milan expired, but he made just seven LaLiga starts under Xavi in his maiden campaign in Catalonia.
Still aged just 26, Kessie will feel that his best years are ahead of him, and the Ivory Coast international certainly boasts plenty of experience at the top level.
Predominantly used as a pure central midfielder, Kessie’s main strengths are helping to break up play and keep things ticking over, which is very similar to Henderson’s role at Anfield.
Indeed, when comparing the two players, they are very alike in a number of metrics. Using Kessie’s figures from his final season at Milan, given he was not given a run of starts by Barcelona, the Ivorian won 0.90 tackles per 90 minutes and registered 0.90 interceptions per 90, as per FBref.
hat compares to one tackle per 90 for Henderson and a near enough identical 0.91 interceptions, while they also completed a similar number of passes (87.5% for Kessie v 83% for Henderson).
Arguably the main difference between the pair is that, while Henderson is happy to bring the ball forward, he does not tend to find himself in the opposition box all that much, averaging just 1.96 touches per 90 in that zone last season. By comparison, Kessie averaged 2.27 per 90 for Milan.
That is nicely reflected in the goalscoring stats, as Kessie scored six times for Milan in 2021-22, whereas Henderson did not net for Liverpool in the league last season – though he did ‘out-assist’ Kessie 2-0.
As former Milan striker Antonio Cassano said two years ago, Kessie is a “devastating” player who “scores, assists, has personality, has quality, doesn’t lose the ball and is intelligent”.
While not all of those qualities have been seen up close by Barcelona so far, Kessie could potentially get the chance to show just how good he is should he arrive at Anfield.
