Everton are reportedly keeping tabs on AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie with a view to making a transfer swoop for the Ivorian.
According to Tuttosport, Carlo Ancelotti is contemplating bolstering his midfield with the acquisition of the Ivory Coast international.
However, the Toffees’ Italian gaffer is not the only suitor for the 23-year-old, as there is interest from elsewhere in the Premier League and in Serie A.
As stated in Tuttosport’s report, former Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso is possibly eyeing a reunion with the central midfielder at Napoli, while Newcastle United are also touted.
It is stated that the Goodison Park club want Kessie to ‘reinforce’ the squad due to injuries and the Toon want to ‘revolutionise’ their side and ‘start a new project’.
Kessie currently has two years left on his contract with Milan and has a market value of £18m, according to Transfermarkt.
TIF Thoughts…
With the Ivory Coast international picking up a 6.55/10 average rating over 23 Serie A appearances this season (per WhoScored), the swoop would not seem a sensible one on the face of it.
If Kessie had replicated the same rating for Everton in the Premier League this season, he would only be their joint-13th-best performer.
However, when looking at his statistics further, in comparison to Andre Gomes – who has posted a worse average rating this season with 6.36/10 – the 23-year-old seems more promising.
Would you be pleased if the Toffees signed Franck Kessie from AC Milan?Yes, he seems talented
No, not good enough
|
In Serie A this season, Kessie has made an average of one key pass, 41 passes and had a passing success percentage of 88.1% per league game.
Gomes, on the other hand, has made 0.5 key passes, 39.4 total passes and had a passing success percentage of 83.9% per league game on average.
So, it would seem that the AC Milan middleman could be a better option for Ancelotti than the club’s Portuguese 26-year-old.