FC Barcelona have announced the sale of a first team player.
As revealed on Wednesday evening in Catalonia through an official statement, Franck Kessie has been sold to Al-Alhi for a fee of €12.5 million ($13.7 million).
“FC Barcelona want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Franck for his commitment and dedication, and to wish him all the best and every success in the future,” the correspondence read.
Barca noted that “despite not being a consistent starter”, Kessie “played a key role during the season for Xavi Hernandez’s side” which won the La Liga title for the first time in four years last term.
“Allied with his strength, power, and reading of the game, the midfielder has shown his hunger for scoring goals, including at key moments, and for assisting in important games. Kessie performed particularly well against Real Madrid,” the Blaugrana continued.
“The Copa del Rey first leg semifinal saw him cause an own goal to put the club in control of the tie, and in La Liga, he scored a memorable goal in added time to keep Barca 12 points ahead of their opponents in second place, as well as being goal 3000 scored at the Spotify Camp Nou”.
The stoppage time strike in question practically sealed the Spanish top flight crown for Barca, yet Kessie struggled for minutes and accumulated only 1803 of them across 43 games in which he started on 16 occasions.
Ahead of the 2023/2024 campaign, Kessie was reportedly told by Xavi that he would accumulate even less playing time with the arrival of ex-Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan a contributing factor to that development.
Signed from AC Milan on a free transfer in 2022, Kessie’s sale was always interesting for Barca as it represents pure profit during a period when the club is struggling to navigate Financial Fair Play limits.
Mundo Deportivo reported that Barca will be able to use around €9 million of the ($9.9 million) €12.5 million earned from his offloading to the Saudi Pro League.
With Kessie now gone, Barca have a mere 12 players registered for Sunday’s season opener against Getafe but more men could now be OK’d for the away fixture thanks to his exit.
