Kessie-Inter, so it is possible between affection for Calhanoglu and for Milan

All of Inter understood that prejudice is always wrong, that there is good even where you don’t want to see it: the transition from the Rossoneri to the Nerazzurri, which for too many fans was almost unnatural, actually works. It has the effect of motivating those who make the leap, never easy in any case, from one side of Milan to the other. The Calhanoglu case is there as a litmus test for Inter’s future Franck Kessie operation. It will take time to eventually put the building up, but the skeleton of the deal has been reconstructed in the last week. What convinces the Nerazzurri is not only the round liking for the player, a midfielder prototype with characteristics that no one has in the squad, but the certainty that Franck would fit perfectly into the subtle Nerazzurri balance. Just as happened to the friend Hakan before him.

Flush with Hakan

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The Turkish and the Ivorian arrived at Milan in the same sparkling Rossoneri campaign in the summer of 2017 and played back-to-back in the midfield until 2021. In that summer, Calha chose to go zero at Inter, accepting the lightning offer of the CEO Beppe Marotta and ds Piero Ausilio. Kessie just waited one more year, just long enough to snatch the Scudetto from Inter, and then he too said goodbye to the Devil at the end of his contract. He didn’t give in to the Nerazzurri court, but chose Barcelona months in advance, which offered a better salary and, above all, a hefty fee to his agent. The conditions for what was not in 2022 to happen in 2023 are all there given that the Ivorian has kept the thread with Milan tight, also thanks to Calha. In the last year and a half, the two have talked a lot and the telephone conversations continue: Hakan has told his ex-partner many times how there is a healthy locker room in Appiano, despite the Scudetto vanishing at the climax and stammering at the beginning of this season. In short, there would be doors wide open for him. Always on the condition that we move from theory to practice: at the moment only the phones have rung to verify mutual availability in wanting to go down this path, even disengaging her from the hypothetical exchange with Marcelo Brozovic feared in January. However, the Croatian remains on the transferable list for both economic and environmental reasons: the club didn’t particularly like the slow recovery from the injury, remotely supervised by his personal trainer Adreja Milutinovic, who, strange but true, is also a collaborator of Milan with the title of “head of performance”.

Everything, of course, will depend on the folds of this Catalan season: net of the office denials from his numerous entourage, Kessie has so far been disappointed by the scarce use in Blaugrana. Indeed, he would be really eager to return to his beloved Milan, even if some sacrifices would be needed: his salary of 7 million, as it is, is not sustainable by Suning. Xavi saw in Franck a sketch of Yaya Touré in the ecosystem of Blaugrana setters: with a few words and a lot of bull, the Ivorian even improved his condition. Yesterday he returned to the starting lineup given Busquets’ injury and the next few games will be his opportunity to prove himself worthy of Barça, but against Villarreal he still seemed like a fish out of water at times. Inter, with Calha in the front row, observes from a distance: the idea of ​​a loan with an option to buy the following season remains on the table.