Comparing Franck Kessie’s 2021-22 stats with Barcelona’s midfielders

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AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie during their Serie A match against Sampdoria at San Siro, Milan, February 2022.

Planet Football
3rd March 2022

Barcelona’s interest in signing Franck Kessie is well-documented – but would the AC Milan midfielder be an upgrade on their current options in the centre of the park?

The Ivory Coast international’s contract at San Siro is due to expire at the end of June and it appears increasingly unlikely that he will be signing an extension with Milan.

Club director Paolo Maldini has confirmed that there is interest from Barcelona in the central midfielder, who has scored six times and registered one assist in 27 appearances at club level this term.

“It’s normal to see that Barcelona are interested in signing Franck”, Maldini told Mediaset. “Our position is very clear [on Kessie’s contract] and it’s part of the strategy of the club. We won’t change our stance.”

It’s clear that Kessie is an accomplished midfielder but would represent an upgrade for Barca?

We’ve compared Kessie’s Serie A stats for the 2021-22 season with the corresponding numbers for Barcelona’s current set of midfielders in La Liga.

Goals
Franck Kessie – 5
Frenkie de Jong – 3
Gavi – 2
Nico Gonzalez – 2
Sergio Busquets – 1
Pedri – 1

Assists
Gavi – 4
Frenkie de Jong – 3
Nico Gonzalez – 1
Pedri – 1
Sergio Busquets – 0
Franck Kessie – 0

Minutes per goal or assist
Gavi – 239.2
Pedri – 259.0
Frenkie de Jong – 271.6
Franck Kessie – 284.2
Nico Gonzalez – 332.3
Sergio Busquets – 2122.0

Chances created per 90 minutes
Pedri – 1.7
Frenkie de Jong – 1.4
Nico Gonzalez – 1.2
Gavi – 0.9
Franck Kessie – 0.9
Sergio Busquets – 0.8

Successful dribbles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Nico Gonzalez – 2.7 (79.4%)
Frenkie de Jong – 2.1 (84.0%)
Gavi – 1.9 (61.3%)
Pedri – 1.6 (84.2%)
Franck Kessie – 1.4 (87.5%)
Sergio Busquets – 0.7 (77.7%)

Passes per 90 minutes (passing accuracy)
Sergio Busquets – 77.2 (87.3%)
Frenkie de Jong – 59.5 (90.8%)
Franck Kessie – 55.9 (90.0%)
Nico Gonzalez – 54.4 (90.1%)
Pedri – 52.3 (86.4%)
Gavi – 46.0 (89.1%)

Successful tackles per 90 minutes
Nico Gonzalez – 2.6
Sergio Busquets – 2.5
Franck Kessie – 1.7
Pedri – 1.4
Frenkie de Jong – 1.3
Gavi – 1.3

Shots per 90 minutes (inside penalty area)
Nico Gonzalez – 1.5 (0.6)
Gavi – 1.2 (0.9)
Franck Kessie – 1.1 (0.8)
Pedri – 0.9 (0.3)
Frenkie de Jong – 0.4 (0.2)
Sergio Busquets – 0.4 (0)