FRANCK KESSIE is the Atalanta starlet wanted by SIX Premier League giants.
Chelsea have had a bid rejected with the player’s agent confirming that Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool all want the 20-year-old, while Everton appear to have entered the race now too.
Here is everything you need to know about one of the most exciting wonderkids in world football…
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Who is most likely to buy him?
Seemingly every English club in with a sniff of being crowned Prem champions.
Tottenham have taken an interest in Kessie, who has been identified by SunSport as one of the five hottest prospects in Serie A.
But Chelsea appear to head the queue of home clubs vying to clinch his signature, having had a £21.5million bid rejected by Atalanta.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool are also monitoring Kessie.
Italian giants Juventus are in the market to replace Paul Pogba and could yet prove his ultimate destination.
How much is he worth?
A deal could be done at somewhere close to the £30m mark if a bidding war gets under way.
Atalanta are thought to want a whopping £34m for him.
And they clearly realise they have a talent on their books, with the minnows swatting away the £21.5m bid from Antonio Conte’s table-topping Blues.
What is his best position?
Central midfield.
Kessie seems best used as a box-to-box powerhouse.
But clubs are keen as the youngster is a quality passer too.
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Why is he dubbed ‘the new Yaya Toure’?
For the reasons above, mainly.
But also because of his nationality.
And the fact that, at such a tender age, he seems to have the knack of picking up goals from midfield.
Kessie has scored six times in 27 Serie A outings this season, including a double in the opening-day 4-3 home defeat to Lazio.
What’s his background and where is he from?
Like Toure, from the Ivory Coast – who he is an international regular for.
He was born in the small town of Ouragahio and joined Stella Club in Abidjan, the country’s capital, in 2014.
In August 2015 he moved to Atalanta.
Kessie spent the following season on loan at Cesena, where he netted four times in 38 games for the Serie B club, making a stunning breakthrough at the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
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