Open clash between Juventus and Franck Kessié's staff after the failure of the transfer of the midfielder from the Ivory Coast to Turin. A few days after the words of the Bianconeri Director Giovanni Carnevali, the player's agent George Atangana has entrusted his version of events in a long letter, completely overturning the reconstruction made by the Bianconeri director.
"Kessié really loved Juventus"
It all started with statements made by Carnevali before the match against Parma. The Juventus acting administrator had explained that the club thought they could close the operation, adding, however, that "perhaps" Kessié or his agent's interest in the black and white jersey was not that strong.
A version that Atangana decided to publicly reject. According to the agent, Kessié had chosen Juventus for weeks and would have waited for the club all summer, rejecting other economically very important offers. His priority, the agent emphasizes, was not therefore simply to find the best offer.
The reception and the offer arrived late
According to Atangana's reconstruction, Juventus would have needed time to carry out some exit operations and create the necessary economic conditions to make an offer. The player would have agreed to wait, keeping the door open for the Bianconeri for a few weeks. The problem, always according to the agent, would have come with the deadlines. Juventus' concrete offer would have been made only in the last days of the transfer window, when the space to find an agreement had already been reduced to a minimum.
And there is another significant detail: Atangana claims that he had received from Kessié the willingness to reduce his economic demands compared to the conditions initially foreseen. A choice made, according to the agent, precisely to adapt to the needs of Juventus and not to maximize the salary.
"It wasn't about money anymore"
This is where the agent's response becomes particularly harsh. Atangana claims that, after weeks of waiting and after the player's economic concessions, the negotiations had become above all a matter of consideration, trust and professional dignity. The feeling created in Kessié would have been that he was not perceiving in the Juventus management the same conviction that he had initially felt towards the project. From here came the decision to break off contact and accept the offer from Atalanta.
The agent also strongly denies the idea that he was the one who blocked the operation for personal reasons. "Franck Kessié is a man and a footballer of very high value," Atangana stressed, reiterating that the midfielder would have made the final decision personally.
Atalanta's choice and thanks to coach Spalletti
In the end, Kessié returned to Atalanta, preferring the black and blue project to the possibility of moving to Juventus. According to manager Atangana, in Bergamo the midfielder felt wanted, respected and appreciated, elements that had a decisive weight in the final choice.
He nevertheless wanted to maintain at least one relationship: that of coach Luciano Spalletti. Atangana thanked the Juventus coach for the consideration shown to Kessié and for the way he strongly motivated him. It was precisely the coach's attitude, according to the manager, that would have been one of the main reasons that led the player to wait for Juventus until the last days.
The negotiations have now been concluded, but the Kessié case leaves behind a significant polemical tail. Carnevali had spoken of a perhaps not so strong interest in the player; the agent claims exactly the opposite. Two opposite versions of the same deal, with Kessié ultimately choosing Atalanta after having waited for Juventus all summer.
