Tottenham target making ‘exorbitant demands’ as Barca withdraw interest

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur are among the clubs interested in signing Franck Kessie from Serie A outfit AC Milan this summer.

The midfielder is out of contract in June and it was reported in January that he had agreed to join Tottenham. He has also been linked with Manchester United.

The 25-year-old has played over 200 times for AC Milan since the start of the 2017/18 campaign.

Gossip: Man Utd move to £40m target due to ‘fierce hatred’

Kessie has been an ever-present for Milan across all competitions this term and he featured for Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Spanish outlet Sport (via Sport Witness) are reporting that Barcelona are no longer interested in Kessie as he is making ‘exorbitant demands’. He is said to have demanded more than €5m per season after tax.

The report adds that ‘several Premier League clubs and Juventus’ are best positioned to sign the midfielder.

Elsewhere, Antonio Conte has described Christian Eriksen’s potential return in the summer as a “good opportunity for him, for me, for the club”.

He played over 300 matches for Tottenham before leaving in 2019 to join Serie A sider Inter, where he played under current Spurs boss Conte.

On whether there had been a discussion about bringing Eriksen back to Tottenham, Conte said (via The Guardian): “Honestly, no. Honestly, I was surprised about the situation because in my mind, honestly, I thought Christian needed more time before coming back to play in England.

“For sure, Eriksen is part of Tottenham’s story. To come back here would be a good opportunity for him, for me, for the club. Now he’s signed for Brentford … only six months, and we’ll see what happens.

“I was lucky because I met him on Sunday and it was good to speak with him.