Report: Franck Kessié prefers Premier League move over return to Serie A

At this point, the fact that new Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli doesn’t exactly have much to work with in terms of a transfer budget is no breaking news. That means the new head honcho has to get creative and search for some bargains on the transfer market if he is to try and bring in any sort of potential upgrades to the Juventus squad for the 2023-24 season.

One of those potential names has been Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessié, who is very much not looking like somebody who is going to be staying with the reigning La Liga champs for much longer.

There’s just one problem, though.

According to Spanish transfer reporter Matteo Moretto, the 26-year-old Kessié prefers a potential move to the Premier League — and probably all the money that will come with it — over returning to Serie A only 12 months after he left AC Milan for Barcelona. Moretto describes that the relationship between Kessié and Barca manager Xavi as not being in a good space whatsoever, with the former Milan man now very much coming to the realization that a move away from Barcelona is the best thing for all parties involved.

Barcelona are seeking €20-25 million for Kessié, per Moretto, with the Spanish giants open to a potential loan-with-option-to-buy formula for the deal.

An interesting piece of information in Moretto’s report is that he says Giuntoli wanted to bring Kessié — who only started seven league games last season — to Napoli during the January transfer window last winter. So, as you can probably guess, Kessié is a player that Giuntoli has had his eyes set on for a while now — and the changing of employer has done nothing to change that.

But, the thing is, Kessié’s willingness to be open to a move to Serie A (and, obviously, Juventus) is something that needs some improving of because, according to Moretto, he is not going to be lacking in offers from Premier League clubs.

While Juve continuing to press Kessié might end up changing things over the next week or two, there aren’t any Premier League clubs mentioned when it comes to who else is in the race to sign him this summer. Moretto says that Kessié would “like to try and experience the Premier League,” and certainly England’s current financial superiority would work in their favor over a cash-strapped club like Juventus who are now out of Europe for the 2023-24 season.