Scouting AC Milan’s Next Potential Superstar Signing Franck Kessie

While they may not be giants of Serie A, Atalanta have a wonderful record when it comes to producing footballing talent. Located just over 50 kilometres north-east of Milan within the region of Lombardy, La Dea have historically been responsible for the development of some of calcio’s finest players.

Iconic Juventus libero Gaetano Scirea came through the club’s youth academy, as did winger Angelo Domenghini, who was integral to the great Inter Milan side of the 1960s.

AC Milan have also benefitted from Atalanta’s nurturing qualities.

Roberto Donadoni, a legendary winger within Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello’s dominant Milan sides of the late-1980s and early-1990s, began his professional career in Bergamo, and more recently Riccardo Montolivo and Giacomo Bonaventura did the same.

This season has seen the emergence of another young star to graduate from Atalanta’s primavera in Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie. With four goals and one assist in six league appearances so far this term, he has quickly established himself as one of Serie A’s most exciting rising stars.

And, at just 19 years of age, it isn’t hard to imagine that he could be the next player to successfully move on to bigger things having come off his current club’s illustrious production line.

From Ivory Coast to Atalanta

Having emerged in his home country with Stella Club in Abidjan, Kessie was already a full Ivory Coast international by the time he joined Atalanta on loan in January 2015, having made his debut for the national team against Sierra Leone in 2014 as a 17-year-old.

Six months after arriving in Italy, he was signed permanently for the relatively small fee of £255,000, per Transfermarkt.co.uk, however he was loaned to Serie B outfit Cesena for the 2015-16 campaign. It was there, far away from the spotlight of Italian football’s top tier, where he would solidify his status as a budding star under the watchful eye of Massimo Drago.

Drago has a fine reputation for moulding Serie A youths into first-team players. During his three-year spell as Crotone coach, he oversaw the development of AS Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi, Fiorentina’s Federico Bernardeschi, Villarreal’s Nicola Sansone and Lazio’s Danilo Cataldi. Since playing for Drago, the former three have all been capped by the Italy national team, while the latter has become a regular for the under-21s.

The coach’s first decision regarding Kessie was an important one. The Ivorian teenager arrived as a central defender, but Drago saw him as being better suited to central midfield. The youngster would thrive in his new position, forming a strong partnership with 21-year-old playmaker Stefano Sensi, who has since signed for Sassuolo.

After making 37 league appearances for Cesena, scoring …

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