Franck Kessié to join Al Ahli: how much will Barcelona get for the midfielder?

They wanted Kylian Mbappé but they’re getting Franck Kessié. A little over a week ago, Al Ahli had a world-record bid for the Paris Saint-Germain superstar accepted, only for the attacker to refuse to even speak to them. Now, the Saudi Pro League side are set to give the LaLiga champions a helping hand by taking one of their unwanted players off their books.

Which players have joined Barcelona this summer?

Barça’s financial struggles have been well-documented over the last few years and have prevented them from being as active as they would like in the summer transfer window so far. They have - impressively - been able to entice Ilkay Gündogan to join from European champions Manchester, while Spain international Iñigo Martínez has also signed on, although both arrive on free transfers. A rather modest fee of around €3.4 million ($3.72 million) was paid for Girona midfielder Oriol Romeu, who made two first-team appearances for them as a youngster.

Messi return not financially viable

The departures of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba to Inter Miami, as well as those of peripheral figures Samuel Umtiti, Nico González and Alex Collado have freed up some space on their enormous wage bill, although not enough for them to be able to re-sign club legend Lionel Messi, which was their main objective this summer.

Head coach Xavi Hernández has reportedly been keen to move on a number of others players at one point or another, including USMNT defender Sergiño Dest, Ansi Fatu, Ferran Torres, Clément Lenglet, Éric García and Kessié.

El Clásico matchwinner Kessié set for Saudi Arabia move

Both Fati and Torres have indicated they have no intention of allowing themselves to be forced out the door, although Barça have finally found a suitor for Kessié, who memorably scored a late winning goal against Real Madrid at Camp Nou last season but failed to establish himself as a regular starter in midfield.

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Al Ahli and Barcelona have reached a verbal agreement for the Ivorian to move to Saudi Arabia on a three-year contract, which is expected to be signed “in the next few hours”. The deal will net the Spanish giants €15 million ($16.41 million), which will come in handy as they continue to try to balance the books while also investing in the squad and the club’s infrastructure.

How much Barça get from PSG for Dembélé?

Xavi is also set to lose one player he wanted to keep, namely Ousmane Dembélé, who is on the verge of a move to Paris Saint-Germain. The French winger’s contract, which runs until next summer, contained a €100 million ($109.42 million) release clause, which dropped to €50 million ($54.71 million) during the months of June and July this year.

The Ligue 1 champions triggered that lower clause and it has been revealed that the conditions of the deal mean Dembélé is due half of that fee, although Barça are attempting to prove that those terms haven’t been met. If they are unable to do so, they face losing a player they valued at €100 million ($109.42 million) for just €25 million ($27.36 million).