Reports about Franck Kessié, the Ivorian midfielder, potentially returning to Italy have emerged from several directions.
Juventus, AS Roma, and Atalanta have been mentioned in turn, but the conclusions differ from report to report.
What is clear at present is not the announcement of a new contract, but that conflicting reports have emerged regarding the player’s choice and the state of negotiations between the clubs.
3-Line Summary
1. Kessié’s new club has not yet been confirmed.
2. Reports about Juventus differ between a rejection and an imminent agreement.
3. A move to Atalanta is also only at the “close” reporting stage.
Negotiations with Juventus Took Place, but Reports Differed on the Outcome
Reports said that Kessié became a free agent after his contract with Al Ahli ended last June. Because of his career as a midfielder who previously played for Atalanta, AC Milan, and Barcelona, the possibility of a return to Italy attracted even greater attention.
However, it is difficult to reach a conclusion about a move to Juventus based on articles pointing in only one direction. Goal.com reported, citing Sky Sport Italia, that Kessié had indicated he would not join Juventus this summer. If that report is accurate, negotiations took place but did not lead to an agreement to join.
Goal.com also wrote that Juventus had been in talks with the player’s representatives for more than a month and met with them in person in Milan this week. It was also explained that Fabio Miretti’s move to Beşiktaş appeared to open the way for Juventus to sign Kessié. However, the key point conveyed in that article was the player’s camp’s judgment that “the right conditions had not been put in place.”
By contrast, Black & White & Read All Over reported that Juventus officials met Kessié’s representatives in Milan to finalize his free-agent signing. The article explained that Miretti’s loan move to Beşiktaş included a €1,500 million purchase option (1500 million euros) and that Juventus subsequently secured room in its wage budget.
The 2-Year Contract Proposal Was Only an Offer; There Is No News of a Signature
The terms reported by the outlet were a 2-year contract, an option for a third year, annual net wages of €450 million, and performance bonuses. However, these were only proposed contract terms. The article said only that the parties were pursuing the signing of the final documents; it did not report that the contract had actually been completed.
The claim that Juventus could proceed without waiting for any further player sales was also part of this report’s explanation. Since one side describes the same player and the same negotiations as a rejection of the move, while the other describes them as an imminent agreement, it is necessary to distinguish between the fact that terms were discussed and the completion of the transfer.
The possibility of Atalanta also remains. RomaPress reported that Juventus withdrew from negotiations because of its financial circumstances and that Roma might likewise find it difficult to sign him for a similar reason. The report said that even though Kessié is a free agent, matching his demands would not be easy.
Citing information from Gianluca Di Marzio, the outlet reported that Atalanta was very close to signing Kessié. However, the wording in the article indicates only a stage of being close; it is not an official announcement or a completed contract. Reports that Kessié rejected Juventus and that Atalanta had moved closer emerged together, but neither replaces confirmation of his new club.
Goal.com gave the Italian summer transfer-window deadline as 8 p.m. local time on September 1, 2026. Negotiations can change quickly before the deadline, but the definitive result confirmed in the current articles is not Kessié’s new club, but conflicting reports about the negotiations. Therefore, when assessing Kessié’s transfer, the first thing to check is whether an official contract announcement has been made, rather than relying on proposed terms or reports that a deal is close.
References
Tags #FranckKessie #FranckKessie #Kessie #Juventus #JuventusTransferRumor #Atalanta #ASRoma #SerieA #ItalianTransferMarket #FreeAgent #AlAhli #ACMilan #Barcelona