Time is running out for AC Milan and the risk of Franck Kessie leaving on a free transfer is becoming more and more concrete, a report claims.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) this morning recalls the words that Kessie uttered while he was in Japan with his national team for the Olympics: “I want to stay at Milan for life. As soon as I get back to Milan I will solve everything and sign the renewal.”
From those words, everyone safely concluded that the extension of his contract issue would be a walk in the park and instead, several weeks have passed since those declarations and a signature has not yet arrive.
Milan raised their offer up to €6.5m net per season, but the player has in turn raised his demands up to €8m. The reasoning behind this is likely that there is a top club ready to offer him that amount such as PSG or Liverpool, but from the Rossoneri’s point of view Kessie’s performance has certainly not been up to par at the start of the season.
The management have met with his agent George Atangana multiple times over the last 18 months but have not been able to find a meeting point yet, so the next few weeks will be decisive. If there is no agreement, his possible departure in January is not entirely excluded, so that Milan can collect an amount from his sale.
READ MORE: Milan, Juventus and Inter poised as Fiorentina issue ultimatum to €70m man
They won’t be able to sell him in January because he’ll
a) be at AFCON
b) be able to get a higher salary if he waits until the end of the year
Possibly a miniscule fee from a club he’s already agreed terms with, but they’ll be planning for him joining next year and doing a proper full season, not arriving in February.
It’s a pipe dream to think he’s not leaving on a free. The time to sell was last summer, opportunity missed… again
As bitter as it was, this sound true. Hope some miracle we can sell him at jan with romagnoli
Another reason Milan shouldn’t give Kessie a salary anywhere higher thann 5M is that he probably will become a father in coming one or two years after just married, which will definitely affect his performance because a total change of family and relation focus.
Nesta, Gattuso, Maldini, etc all had their form dropped after having new babies.
Kessie will just drop back to his old sh!t form again.
Let go Kessie, get back Pobega, continue the growth of Tonali. We will be alright.
for what i see this Players outsmart management, just wonder what bizness the club is doing
Bench him for now… Then sale him in January for low price… It’s better than free
Bench him against Atalanta and whenever Tonali and Bennacer play better than him. I believe Baka can contribute as good as Kessie in double pivot position
Then they should do the same as Schalke 04 did before, freeze the player, no match, no training. That will set an example to the players, either renew or move to other team at suitable time to generate revenue for the team.
Agree 100%. No more Mr.Niceguy.
The player’s agent atangana is the one behind this whole situation.
Anyway it goes, Maldini shouldn’t hesitate to sell in January or perhaps consider the player swap with Tottenham or Liverpool.
Ndombele isn’t a bad player at all, he’s young and still has room for improvement
Exactly.. Tanguy Ndombele.. Strong n skillfull
Can’t believe we may lose yet another player for zero transfer fee….
Give him an ultimatum. Sign or be sent home no more training and games. I hate that Milan have to do this but a message needs to be sent to agents and plays alike. Kessie and his agent (at least publicly) made it sound like they wanted to renew. Milan’s perimeters have been clear. They knew what ball park Milan’s offer would be and if they wanted more they should have just been upfront and told the club they weren’t going to renew. Then over the summer Milan and Kessie could have found a club and an operation that made sense for everyone.