FC Barcelona and Juventus has reportedly reached an agreement for a midfielder.
FC Barcelona and Juventus have reached an agreement in principle for one of the Catalans' midfielders according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Franck Kessie has been on the Italian giants' radar for a while now, and there were reports from SPORT that they would take advantage of a planned preseason meeting between the two clubs to discuss a potential transfer involving the Ivorian.
Unfortunately because of a virus outbreak across head coach Xavi Hernandez's squad, the friendly set to take place at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California never went ahead and had to be canceled to the disappointment of fans that had bought tickets and others worldwide that wanted to see the Blaugrana's new signings in action.
Kessie was tipped to start the match, which could have been a way of Juve getting a better look at him up close.
Still, the setback hasn't stopped the former European Super League allies heading to the business table, La Gazzetta dello Sport.
According to the Italian newspaper, they have struck an agreement which will see the 26-year-old head to the 'Old Lady' on loan first before an obligatory purchase fee of something between €10-15 million.
All that remains is for the Turin outfit to agree personal terms with Kessie, who was first reluctant to move back to Italy given his history at Juve's rivals AC Milan.
His first preference was to stay in Catalonia, or move to the Premier
In the past few days, however, the midfielder has softened his resolve which could see him play in the Serie A once more.
Though few players are reluctant to leave a club like Barca because of the club's stature and the quality of life offered in the city, a move away probably suits all parties.
Cash-strapped Barca can get Kessie's €6 million ($6.6 million) yearly salary off the pay roll while they attempt to navigate Financial Fair Play limits and register new players, then receive a fee for him 12 months from now.
As for Kessie, he goes somewhere he is wanted and will receive more playing time at one of the continent's biggest clubs.
Because of the arrival of Ilkay Gundogan, and the prominence of established youngsters such as Pedri and Gavi, it was always going to be hard to receive minutes in 2023/2024 which is something already explained to him by Xavi.