Franck Kessié is one of the players who best took advantage of the boom in Arab football to secure a million-dollar contract. In the summer of 2023, the Ivorian midfielder, who the previous year had left Milan for Barcelona, accepted a three-year contract with Al Ahli, Gedda's club. The two institutions agreed on a transfer fee of €12.5 million, with the player signing a three-year contract worth €20 million gross per year. Translating: a salary of around 14 million euros net per season, in addition to the 40 million he earned in the last three years, in addition to the 6.5 million he earned in Catalonia the previous season. "In saying this: I'm at the World Cup and I'm thinking about the World Cup. Then, adding that I'm still an Al Ahli player until June 30th. So, we'll see what happens. In Italy I did well and in football everything is possible. But we'll talk about that in a month," said the midfielder born in 1996, who will turn 30 on December 19th. Kessié still has three to four important seasons ahead of him that he would like to spend in that championship that launched him to high levels and that allowed him to win so much abroad. Arriving in Italy at the age of 19 with Atalanta, Kessié soon excelled in an excellent season in Serie B with Cesena. A year later, under Gasperini's guidance, he emerged as one of the best midfielders in Serie A and, in 2017, made his move to Milan for 28 million euros. With the Rossoneri shirt, he spent five seasons, recording 223 appearances and 37 goals. Above all, he won the Scudetto at the end of Serie A 2021/22. After the World Cup, Kessié will be able to return to Italy, but not to Milan. Luciano Spalletti is particularly interested in signing him to Juventus: negotiations are already underway and his agent, George Atangana, is expected in Italy in the coming days to deepen talks with interested clubs, including Juve and others that may emerge.