Barcelona president Joan Laporta has stated that he does not want rumoured Tottenham target Franck Kessie to leave the Camp Nou during the January transfer window.
AS reported at the start of this month that Tottenham were keen on snapping up Kessie and that Barca were ready to sell him for just €10m (£8.5m) in January since he arrived on a free transfer in the summer.
Sport then reported a couple of weeks ago that Spurs were the frontrunners to sign the Ivorian ahead of both Inter Milan and Juventus, with the North Londoners alleged to have made a loan offer for the player with an option to buy.
However, since then, multiple reports (Sport and GiveMeSport) have suggested that the former Milan man still dreams of being successful at Barcelona and has no intention of leaving the club in January through the backdoor.
Laporta has now seemingly quashed any hope Tottenham had of signing Kessie but insisting that the 26-year-old will stay put at the club in the summer.
The Blaugrana chief told Barca TV: “I don’t want to let anyone go. We’re happy with all our players. I am convinced that Kessie and [Andreas] Christensen will be important in the second half of the season.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Signing Kessie in January was always going to be a longshot, given that he just joined Barcelona six months ago. However, there has been plenty of evidence of Laporta going back on his word over recent months. So, I would not be surprised if Tottenham put in a cheeky bid for the Ivorian in January.
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