Sportitalia: Spurs closing in on €10m-a-year deal with Milan star including ‘monster’ fees

Rumours that AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie is heading towards a move for Tottenham are beginning to gather steam, with an agreement reportedly close.

Earlier today Spurs made the announcement that they have appointed Antonio Conte as their Head Coach on a contract until the summer of 2023, with an option to extend it. Given Conte’s knowledge and experience in Serie A, there is already plenty of speculation that he is going to raid some Italian clubs.

According to the latest from Rudy Galetti of Sportitalia on Twitter, Kessie’s agent George Atangana and Tottenham director Fabio Paratici are close to reaching an agreement over a contract that would begin in July 2022.

The Ivorian would earn €10m net per season in salary and there would be ‘monster’ fees for the agent involved too. Kessie’s contract with Milan of course expires at the end of the season and there are no signs that a renewal is imminent.


READ MORE: A Ronaldinho shirt and a Sarajevo hotel – how Edin Dzeko almost joined Milan

Tags AC Milan Franck Kessie

29 Comments

  1. Shouldn’t be surprised if he even goes to Newcastle without any quarantee for competing for titles or playing the CL.
    It’s all about money; we get it and it’s OK.
    The question here is how ACM responds and ensures the next day is even better without him.

    1. Well said Dimi.
      I’m just unsatisfied with Bakayoko’ work rate.

      He commits too many fouls.
      Definitely, we need another option that will fit better than Kessie in the coming transfer window.

  2. 10M per yr is too much for us to compare with.
    He is gone unfortunately. Spurs is in Conference league and probably won’t be top 4 this season, so no no UCL football for whoever goes there until 2023 possibly. The Premier League is soo Competitive..Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester and Newcastle all will be want ing UCL football but 4 will miss out. Why not stay at Milan, play consistent UCL football? Players today only look at money…Romero left Atalanta( a UCL team) to sit on Spurs bench in Conference League..wow

    1. If you came from nothing and were offered 10m per year over 6m per year you would not take it? Trophies are great, but in this world with jobs increasingly harder to come by, poverty not improving or getting worse, tech putting more people out of jobs, I’d take every penny I was offered. Kessie was born in some place called Ouragahio, pop 36,000, in Ivory Coast. My only issue is with the agent piggy backing on him, but that is another story, and one for FIFA to figure out (which they won’t).

      1. I don’t agree with you, we are not talking about a salary of 500 euros (in my country average is about 400), or 1.500 or 5.000 eur, we are talking about MILLIONS, so with an offered salary of 6 mil per year in Milan he is covered for the next two generations. So don’t even try to compare theirs salary with ordinary people who will leave only to survive for double salary.

        1. It’s all relative. Let me see you get offered 6m at one job and 10m at another and see what you will do. Lol. The problem is that as “fans” the choices that players make are somehow personal. For players it’s a job. If the behavioral history of humans isn’t a clue, the vast majority of people will choose more, unless you’re Mother Theresa or Karl Marx. Does Jeff Bezos need 200 billion dollars? How about those “Panama Papers”, “Paradise Papers”, and now the “Pandora Papers”? All those rich people hiding money. If they paid their fair share of taxes they’d still be filthy rich. So yeah, expect Kessie to accept the highest offer. And for Gigio to take 12m to sit on a bench. Accept this and you will be able to navigate it all much better.

          1. As I can see Maldini, Zanetti, Toti, Del Piero, Batistuta…etc, for them it was also job and they choose the money or something else? They don’t have money now? And they played when players were much less paid than today… In the world of sport there were some other values. He is not giving his 6mil salary to the poor so no one is Mother Theresa. No one knows how much scored last season best scorer in Seria A or any other league, but everybody knows players salaries. And with Dolaruma is not the problem that he accept 12mil but that he did not show respect to the club that made him. And Kessie didnt want 10 mil when he made interview that he will stay with Milan and money is not the issue, just wait until he returns for the Olympic games and all will be solved. See my point?

          2. He could say at the start, I will go where they offer the most money and I would say you have every right to make your own choices, but in the summer his words were different

          3. Alek, and 50 years ago, players were all homegrown and had day jobs. World Cups were played on fields where the 6 yard box was a mud pit. Now countries spend billions to build shiny new stadiums for one month of games. How many “one club men” are left? Not even Messi. See my point?

      2. Agreed, players should maximize their earnings. It is up to the clubs to tie them down and make offers to satisfy them.

        I wish Kessie all the best and hope he does well wherever he goes.

        Maldini and Massara need to tie up these loose ends. This is the 3rd hard lesson we will learn, how many more do we need?

    2. Not fair to slight a player that is looking to make 2x the salary for what he is doing. If you are offered 2x your salary to go to a different company to work and do the exact same job, don’t know too many people that would turn that down!

      yes, the draw of UCL is obviously something he hopes to achieve, but it is not a guarantee for any team to be in UCL unless you look at someone like Bayern, Real Madrid, or Barcelona with limited competition in your domestic league. AC Milan is not far removed for competing for a top-6 position, let alone now competing for the top spot! Players have a limited life on the field and if they are trying to make as much as they can to provide them for the rest of their lives possibly.

      Sucks to lose Kessie, but at this point we have to accept that we are not ready to compete with the likes of EPL or any big clubs when you look at their revenues compared to that of Serie A. A new stadium will help us dramatically and we have to put faith in management to secure replacements for players as they move on very similar to what they have done with Tomori, Kjaer, and Maignan.

  3. Pobega can replace him no doubt, Adli would do too next year and Kamara also (perhaps) joining would be enough.

    Starter Tonali – Bennacer with Pobega – Adli – Kamara – Bakayoko – Krunic. There are 7 players for 2 spots!

    More than enough. Just let him go to the place he wanna be

  4. I don’t blame Kessie if he leaves – 10M a season plus bonuses? He’s gone and that is his right. Still upset at management let his contract wind down as we could have signed him for much less a year ago – but that’s over with now. Romagnoli is next. Seems like we have learned our lesson and are now trying to lock down Leao, Theo, Bennacer….thank you. Now who do we replace Kessie with? KAMARA is my choice and we should get him in January for a small fee. Bringing Poegba back and we will be fine in the middle. ;ets be proactive – extend our players and sign Kamara to replace Kessie.

    1. Juro, you nailed it. These players have every right to earn as much as they can. It’s up to the management to either renew at a rate they will accept or sell before they leave on a free. Maldini & co. are learning some hard lessons, but I think they’re doing a good job bringing in young talent to move forward. Next season we will have Bennacer, Tonali, Pobega, and Adli, at least. Maybe Kamara. As Milanello said, that’s a lot for 2 spots. I think the kids are alright. Let’s just make sure none of them leave on a free in 2-3 years!

    2. I can’t fault management cus last season was the only Kessie performed well. Prior to Ibrahimovic retur he has been poor. So I’ll say he’s been greedy and all that but like you said, it’s business and the highest bidder wins. May he find his fulfilment wherever he goes

      1. Dave, I don’t disagree with you in terms of Kessie’s historical performance, but your point goes to the value of his contract (and transfer fee). Regardless of how well he played, what he’s making, and how much of a fee he would command if sold, it’s up to the club to sort it out before the player is in the final year of his contract. In other words, we could be talking about any player. No player should walk for free given an initial investment and salary paid (unless they’re like 35 and at the end of a 5 year contract). So even if Kessie didn’t have a good track record before 2020-21, if he didn’t renew by say July 15, you sell for whatever he’s worth. If he’s a superstar you get 40m. If he’s a backup you get 4m. Whatever, just don’t lose a player for free. It’s money left on the table.

        1. And maybe your good point is why Milan ultimately didn’t go over 6m for him. Remember Ibra’s initial contract was for 7m, and this is for a player that was 38 when he arrived. Why? Because his record speaks for itself. If Kessie had played every season like he did last season, then perhaps the club might have offered him the 8m he wanted.

  5. Fine if he wants to leave, but at this stage, I’m only allowing Tonali, calabria and a few others, a very few, mind you, to lead me by the nose with some story about wanting to stay for a very long time…

    1. Lol, get some perspective sir – he’s being offered a big salary to change jobs (and to change his mind). Milan’s fault for not cashing in when they had the chance – or, if he contributes to another good season and UCL qualification, maybe it was worth missing out on the transfer fee and everyone wins anyway

        1. Maybe he truly believed Milan would offer 8-10m? Remember the club offloaded Donnarumma’s 6m salary, and cut Ibra’s guaranteed by like 40%, plus now there is CL money. Also keep in mind that if the club had offered 8m straight away he might have signed, as that is what he asked for 5 months ago. The club is still at 6. Now Tottenham is offering 10. So even there was no Tottenham he wouldn’t be resigning. And Spurs is probably going over the top to lure him in January and beat the likes of PSG and Liverpool.

  6. You guys can Moan and curse all you want, but the reality is that the big clubs out there are ready to pay stupendous amounts and raid your clubs of their best players, leaving you with nothing. Can anybody smell evolution here??? Lol evolve or get extinct

  7. Don’t know what Kessie is still doing in our starting line up??

    This why I will always have issues with the Dumbo Pioli.

    Other Coaches will delibrate show a player that he is out of the team. Before you know the player will extend to avoid damaging his career.

    This happened between Inter, Conte and Perisic I think but it was handle well and the player is still with Inter.

    1. Wow. One of the best starts to a season in Milan’s history (if not THE best), despite Covid, despite the multitude of injures and it’s still #PioliOut. Amazing.

  8. If it’s all about the money then he should go..his opinion must be respected..but on a serious note we have to start doubling up our players salaries this guys are really working hard and I pray it continues like that..there are some players in the Epl who does not offer one quarter of what this Milan player are offering..no player is bigger than a club..player will always come and go but club will remain

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