Atalanta midfielder Franck Kessie’s agent is visiting Merseyside this week to discuss a possible transfer to Liverpool for his talented 19-year-old client, according to Goal today.
Kessie is touted as the next Yaya Toure, having won ten caps for Ivory Coast and scoring five goals in 11 Serie A appearances this term.
He’s physically exceptional but combines his strength with technical ability, much like Premier League legend Toure has at City for so many seasons.
The report suggests Juventus are also keen though, and are already in talks with Atalanta over a transfer. The smaller Italian club want to keep Kessie until the summer, but are in no position to ignore huge offers, with Italian reports suggesting we’ve lined up an £18.46m bid.
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Goal is a pretty weird source, in truth. Melissa Reddy, their Liverpool correspondent, is ultra-reliable – and should be trusted the same amount as Paul Joyce, Tony Barrett, etc – but when she hasn’t written the article – it’s often more speculation than fact.
This piece is presented by Romeo Agresti, an Italian correspondent who would have access to Serie A clubs and agents, but we can’t personally vouch for his reliability.
The fact he hasn’t named Kessie’s agent makes us more dubious.
We’re likely keeping tabs on Kessie (who isn’t?), but we’d be surprised if we’ve formalised our interest yet. The agent may of course head to England for very early discussions, without a transfer being lined up. Clubs often sound out potential deals for the future in preliminary conversations without necessarily wanting to purchase a player then and there.