Franck Kessié is a young Ivorian midfielder who is 25 years old that has just signed for FC Barcelona. But we all know that. Let’s now find out what he can really add to Barça’s midfield.
Even though several Barça’s fans believe that his new role in the system of Xavi will be based on a consistency kind of midfielder, similar to Sergio Busquets’ position, his real spot is closer to a midfielder that takes up a lot of space on the field and is able to step on both boxes. That is known as a ‘box to box’ player in the Premier League.
In fact, his position has been always been between a pure and an offensive midfielder in all the teams he has played for so far. His numbers prove that. At the age of 25, Franck Kessié has scored almost half a hundred of goals in his professional career. This is a stat that certainly proves that he has more than interesting scoring abilities that can provide for a Barça that, precisely, need midfielders that can join the attacking area and be decisive in the final part of the field.
The Ivorian has played a total of 204 games in the Serie A and has scored 41 goals and given 16 assists, which means that he has taken part directly in a goal every 297 minutes (4 games). These are decent numbers for a midfielder.
Furthermore, Franck Kessié has joined Barcelona as a free agent, which is why the initial investment on him is already more than amortized no matter how he ends up performing. His outstanding physical, one of his other features, will also be key in order to provide Barcelona with energy and power, as last season they finished too worn out in the last months of the competition.
Last but not least, Franck Kessié, who has signed for Barça until 2026, also counts on a high number of national team appearances throughout his career (58), as he has also scored six goals with his country.
There is no doubt that, even though many question this signing by Barça, president Laporta has done a magnificent job by adding a kind of player profile that he currently does not have in the roster and, overall, by managing to sign him for free while, according to Transfermarkt, he has a market value of around 45 million euros.
Translated by Guillermo Bermejo.
Main image: @fcbarcelona.