Franck Yannick Kessié (born 19 December 1996) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Atalanta and captains the Ivory Coast national team. A versatile player, Kessié plays predominantly as a box-to-box central midfielder, but has also been deployed as a defensive midfielder and on rare occasions, a centre-back.
After advancing through Atalanta, Kessié joined AC Milan in 2017 on loan, securing a permanent move two years later and playing a pivotal role in their Serie A success in the 2021–22 season. In 2022, he joined Barcelona, clinching titles in La Liga and Supercopa de España, before his transfer to Al-Ahli in 2023.
An Ivorian international since 2014, Kessié was part of the squad that won the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Milan reached the Coppa Italia final, but lost 4–0 to Juventus, Kessié playing the full game. Following Bonucci's departure 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. As Juventus won the league-cup double, Milan qualified for the 2018 Supercoppa Italiana final against Juventus. They lost 1–0 and Kessié was sent off in the 74th minute.
Milan finished the 2020–21 Serie A season in second place, with Kessié scoring 13 times in 37 appearances, and qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League after an eight-year absence.
Kessie became the first player to score at least ten penalties for AC Milan in a Serie A season since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2011–12; he played 50 matches this season in all competitions, a record between Serie A players with Politano, and was described as player of the season for Milan by some critics.
2021–22: Scudetto winner and departure
On 12 September 2021, Kessié won a penalty kick against Lazio but failed to convert it; Milan still managed to win the match 2–0. On 28 September, in a UEFA Champions League match against Atlético Madrid, as Milan was leading by 1–0, Kessié was sent off in the 29th minute, his side eventually lost 1–2. On 31 October against Roma, he converted a penalty kick to score the second and seal a 2–1 victory for Milan. On 7 November, while playing against Inter he fouled Hakan Çalhanoğlu in the penalty box, causing a penalty kick which the latter scored in a 1–1 draw.
On 4 December, Kessié scored the first goal against Salernitana in an eventual 2–0 win. On 22 December, Kessié scored a brace against Empoli, reaching 14 Serie A goals during the 2021 calendar year; the last AC Milan midfielder to score so much in a single calendar year was Kaká in 2008.