Former Barcelona star Yaya Toure played a key role in convincing Franck Kessie to join the club.
Barcelona today confirmed the signing Kessie on a free transfer from Milan via a club statement.
The Ivorian international w as a long standing target for La Balugrana, and he has signed a four-year contract at Camp Nou, with €500m buy-out clause.
The 25-year-old is determined to make an instant impact on his arrival in Spain claiming he is not afraid to work hard to achieve his goals.
“I’m not afraid of running”, he said.
“It’s something natural for me. I earn a lot of money to sweat on the field. In Africa there are people who walk 30 kilometres every morning for a piece of bread.”
Franck Kessie
Kessie’s comments will be a major boost for Xavi, as he looks to build for the upcoming campaign, and he can thank his old teammate Toure for helping hand.
Toure is close friends with Kessie and the former midfielder told Kessie a switch to Barcelona would be an ideal career move for him.
“It is true, I called him during the negotiations with Barca”, as reported via Marca.
“We’ve been in contact and he called me several times because I know Barcelona well.
“I told him not to hesitate, if he wanted to leave, he had to go to Barcelona.”
Kessie is expected to join up with the Barcelona squad for pre-season training in the coming days before the team head off to the United States later this month.