Franck Yannick Kessié (born 19 December 1996) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a central or defensive midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the Ivory Coast national team.
Club career
Born in Ouragahio, Kessié began his career in Stella Club d'Adjamé, joining their youth setup in 2010. In 2014, he was promoted to the first team.
Atalanta
On 29 January 2015, Kessié signed a three-year contract with Serie A club Atalanta. He was assigned to the club's Primavera squad upon his arrival and contributed with seven appearances for the side. His first match in Europe occurred on 1 March, as he started in a 2–0 away win against AC Milan Primavera.
On 18 April 2015, Kessié was called up to the first team for a match against Roma, but remained an unused substitute in the 1–1 draw the following day.
Cesena (loan) On 26 August 2015, Kessié joined Cesena in the Serie B on a one-year loan deal. He made his professional debut on 26 September, coming on as a substitute for Antonino Ragusa in a 0–0 away draw against Perugia.
Kessié scored his first professional goal on 31 October 2015, netting the last in a 2–0 home win against Virtus Lanciano. He became an undisputed starter afterwards, appearing in 37 matches and scoring four goals as his side missed out promotion in the play-offs.
Return to Atalanta
After returning from loan, Kessié was promoted to the first team by manager Gian Piero Gasperini. After appearing with the main squad during the pre-season, he made his debut for La Dea on 13 August 2016, starting and scoring the last in a 3–0 Coppa Italia home win against Cremonese. Six days later, he renewed his contract until 2021.
Kessié made his debut in the main category of Italian football on 21 August 2016, as he started and scored a brace in a 4–3 home loss against Lazio. He scored another goal seven days later, in a 2–1 away defeat to Sampdoria.
Kessié subsequently became a mainstay in Gasperini's starting eleven, scoring the winners against Torino (2–1 home win) and Roma (2–1 home win), both through penalties. He also scored the equalizer against Empoli on 20 December 2016, with Marco D'Alessandro scoring a last-minute winner.
AC Milan
On 2 June 2017, Kessié joined fellow Serie A side AC Milan on a two-year loan deal with the obligation to buy. Originally, he chose 19 as his shirt number but soon was persuaded by the club's management to leave it for Leonardo Bonucci, who transferred to Milan a few weeks later; as a result, Kessié changed it to 79. Following Bonucci's departure in the next summer transfer window, he was offered his original shirt number back yet refused, citing that he did not want to force Milan fans to spend any extra money on his personalized shirts due to yet another number change.
2017–18
He made his debut for Milan and helped the club to win the first leg of Europa League qualification match against CS U Craiova on 27 July. On 20 August 2017, in Milan's opening Serie A match of the season, he scored a penalty in a 3–0 victory over Crotone. In a match against Cagliari on 21 January 2018, Kessié scored two goals, one being from the penalty spot, to give Milan the win.
2018–19
On 31 August 2018, he scored the opening goal against Roma in an eventual 2–1 win. On 16 January 2019, Kessie was sent off in 2018 Supercoppa Italiana final against Juventus, which the latter won 1–0. On 13 April, he scored the only goal in 1–0 win against Lazio. On 26 May, he scored a brace against SPAL in an eventual 3–2 win.
2019–20
On 5 October 2019, he scored the winning goal in an away fixture against Genoa. On 7 July 2020, he scored the equalizer to help Milan comeback in a 4–2 win against Juventus. On 12 July, he scored a penalty for a final 2–2 score against Napoli. On 15 July he scored the equalizer against Parma in a 3–1 win, a powerful shot from 25 metres.