Manchester United are reportedly the latest team to join the race to try to sign talented young Atalanta midfielder Franck Kessie.
The 20-year-old has caught the eye of many clubs with his form so far this season, as he has bagged six goals in 16 Serie A appearances while also producing a string of quality displays in midfield.
With great energy to play box-to-box coupled with tenacity off the ball and composure on it, the youngster has been dubbed the ‘new Yaya Toure’, as per The Sun, who also claim that Atalanta are holding out for £34m for their prized asset after previously rejecting a bid from Chelsea of £21.5m earlier this week.
The Premier League pacesetters aren’t the only side interested though, with Kessie’s agent, George Atangana revealing that five clubs are all monitoring him and they look set for a transfer war for his signature.
“We have a lot of interest from the Premier League. Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal,” he is quoted as saying in the report.
“I cannot say at this stage how much he will cost but we are talking about one of the best young players in the world.
“Chelsea are very interested and it is a great club but we must take our time to consider all the options.”
Kessie will now focus on the Africa Cup of Nations next month as he looks set to play a leading role for the Ivory Coast, but his future will be a talking point throughout the January transfer window.
Atalanta seem set to force as much out of the interested parties as possible and so any club wanting to sign the highly-rated midfielder will have to dig deep.
However, with such strong interest in him from some top clubs, it surely won’t be long before a club gets the ball rolling with another bid and some movement is made on a January transfer.