Franck Kessie Fits Chelsea's Style Perfectly but Doesn't Upgrade the XI...Yet

One of the reasons it can be difficult to project who the next big stars in football will be is that many of them shoot from nowhere.

For every Neymar, whose path to stardom was laid out before him clear as day, there’s a Harry Kane—a player who emerges in a time of need and moves through the gears so quickly there’s barely time to take stock.

Chelsea have been courting a player in the Kane mould. He’s not a striker, but he is a player who has catapulted himself into a position of great strength over the last two years. Franck Kessie, an Ivorian midfielder who plays for Atalanta, has been the subject of great interest from Blues boss Antonio Conte recently, and the intent to hash out a deal is clear.

Admittedly, it does seem unlikely the transfer will be made in January. Not only does Kessie’s presence at the Africa Cup of the Nations 2017 make negotiations quite difficult, but Atalanta are holding out for a big fee.

According to Fabrizio Romano and Marcus Christenson of the Guardian, La Dea want at least £30 million for the midfielder, and the signs are that this deal won’t happen until the summer.

But with the framework for a transfer seemingly in place, Blues fans’ intrigue has understandably been piqued. What kind of player is he, what does he do well, and how would he fit into Conte’s team?

All Change, Please

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Kessie arrived at Atalanta in January 2015 as a defensive player, but a loan to Cesena saw him change positions. Coach Massimo Drago converted him into a roaming, box-to-box central midfielder after seemingly spotting something many others had missed in training.

Having completed his first proper half-season as an Atalanta player, he is seen exclusively as a midfield man; those defensive days are firmly in the past.

The impact he’s able to have in the middle and final thirds are too great to waste him in a defensive capacity, with his boundless energy, forward thrust and excellent movement all key parts of La Dea’s brilliant Serie A season thus far—they’re just three points off third-placed Napoli in the table.

There's still an element of inconsistency to his play, with his final two games of 2016 illustrating the peaks and troughs of the 20-year-old's career quite nicely. Against Empoli he was sharp, incisive and changed the game in his side’s favour in the second half, netting the equaliser with a thunderous strike, smacking the bar soon after and creating the winner with an excellent dribble and low cross.

But against AC Milan the week before, Kessie’s love for a first-time pass got his team into trouble far too frequently. Loose touches and slapdash passes awarded the Rossoneri easy recoveries.

Raw Potential

One thing to note from those two games is that he doesn’t shrink from contests; Kessie will stay true to the way he plays and force himself back into form. That way of playing, when it works, can be devastating. For now, you can accept that a 20-year-old can have disappointing games now and again.

Credit: Sky Calcio

No matter how it’s going, Kessie works extremely hard, shuttles up and down the pitch and tracks back diligently. He identifies the players he needs to track quickly and sticks to them, utilising great speed to keep up and great strength to jockey with them. He seems remarkably effective in 50-50 duels; he nearly always ends up with the ball once he enters such a contest.

He’s happy to receive possession in tight spaces, and his one-touch passing keeps Atalanta’s midfield tempo high. Given La Dea have a speedster in Alejandro Gomez operating as a left-sided forward, the ability to maintain momentum is vital, as all the good work he does could easily go to waste should his colleagues take too many touches.

Kessie tends to play as a No. 8 in a 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1), operating alongside a partner. His runs from deep with the ball are good, his passing is decent and he understands the importance of his role. When shifted forward to make a difference, he takes up good positions just outside the opposition area and often finds himself on top of loose balls.

The Chelsea/Conte Fit

Conte seems enamoured with Kessie. In late December, Ed Aarons of the Guardian reported that Chelsea had seen a £21 million bid rejected. Earlier that month, Manuele Baiocchini for Goal said that Juventus had had a similar-sized offer knocked back. It might be that the Blues try to snatch him in January before anyone else can swoop in.

Credit: Sky Calcio

Kessie’s physique, energetic style, strong positional sense and positive final-third impact make him, on paper, a good fit for Conte’s 3-4-3 system. He’s smart enough and fit enough to play in a two-man midfield, and a combination of him and N’Golo Kante might just be the most all-encompassing, physically impressive pairing in world football.

Whether Conte intends for him to knock Nemanja Matic out of the XI or serve as Kante’s replacement, Chelsea's reported interest makes sense.

Kessie would not upgrade the starting XI—he’s come a long way, but there’s further to go—but stylistically, Conte has identified the perfect player.

Chelsea might feel it necessary to secure his signature in January for fear of being gazumped by others in the summer, but if he were to arrive this winter, he wouldn't be ready to crack the team.

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