Barca’s first signings are Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie. Joan Laporta, the club’s chair, made Monday the official signings of Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen. They arrived on a free transfer following their spells with Chelsea and Milan. They will remain in place until June 30, 2026. Both players will be presented at the Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper on Wednesday and Thursday with termination clauses totaling 500 million euros.
Barca activates the first famous lever with the sale 10% of its television rights over the next 25 year. This allows Barca to begin to move to provide Xavi Hernandez a competitive team with which to meet the challenges of the forthcoming campaign. Kessie and Christensen are the first pieces of this rebuilding of Barca. Both players arrived in secret for several months. It has now become official after the contracts between the clubs and the players have been signed.
Kessie, 25 years old, is a strong holding midfielder who moved to Europe with Atalanta in 2014. He was first loaned by Bergamasco to Cesena, then to Milan. His great tactical and deployment skills helped him establish himself as a top-flight player in elite football. In the five seasons that he was in Lombard, he played 223 games with the elastic “rossonera” and scored 37 goals. He also assisted 16 times. These numbers are what explain his ability to reach the second line despite being a pivot.
Kessie, a ball-catcher with great skills, is able to contribute both offensively and defensively. He also won Serie A under Stefano Pioli. He was captained 58 times by the Ivory Coast team and is a great complement to Sergio Busquets at the axis. Since he can play both as a pivot and an inside player, he has a lot mobility.
Christensen, for his part, arrives at Camp Nou to provide reinforcements and guarantees for a defense line that has been almost a hole in the Barca team’s recent history. The Danish defender was a rotation player at Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. He hasn’t become an indisputable at Stamford Bridge. However, 161 duels in five season with the ‘blue shirt’ and a previous stage at London club have endorsed him. This is before his two-year loan from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2015.
He has a remarkable ability to get the ball in play, which is highly valued by Can Barca and six titles at Chelsea (Champions). Europa League, Club World Cup and European Super Cup are just a few of the many accolades that Barca has to offer. The defense is bolstered by a player who boasts 57 caps for Denmark, which was capable of reaching the semifinals at the last European Championship.
Barca is still working on its goal for this summer. This goal, Robert Lewandowski, is the only exception to the arrivals of Christensen and Kessie. Despite Bayern Munich having rejected two offers, Laporta still hopes to secure a crucial operation to give Xavi that punch that Barca so badly missed last season.
Mateu Alemany also has the names of the Brazilian Raphinha from Leeds on Mateu’s table. Cesar Azpilicueta from Spain and Marcos Alonso from Brazil, both belonging to Chelsea.
