Tottenham ‘immediately pulled out of race’ for player after seeing demands – ‘Soap opera’ coming to an end

Tottenham ‘immediately pulled out’ of the race for AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie after learning his contract demands.

That’s according to Tuttomercatoweb, who say Kessie will be joining Barcelona on a free in the summer transfer window.

Kessie is out of contract with Milan in the summer and has half of Europe chasing his signature following five very impressive years at the club following an initial loan move from Atalanta in July 2017.

Tottenham are one of those known to be have been keen on his signature, with Antonio Conte wanting to strengthen his midfield this summer and Kessie a player he knows well from his time in Italy.

Numerous reports over the last year have indicated they were trying to get a pre-contract deal over the line, but it seems they’ve now completely pulled out of negotiations.

TMW say the ‘soap opera’ around Kessie will have its end as the player will be joining Barcelona when he becomes a free agent.

After a long process of back and forth, the midfielder is set to move to the Nou Camp after his ‘demands’ stopped a deal with Milan happening, and the likes of PSG ‘preferred to move on to other targets’.

That’s after they realised the player wanted a big figure, with him now set to earning €6.5m per year plus bonuses on a five-year deal with Barcelona.

Such a figure was also too much for Tottenham, who ‘immediately pulled out of the race’ for Kessie when they learned of the figure.

That’s left Barcelona as the only interested party, and they have now secured their man, having been the only club to make ‘an offer for the future’, something which ultimately ‘convinced’ Keesie into the move.