One of Barcelona's newest signings has revealed that his former teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped persuade him to make the move to the Catalan giants.
The 25-year-old arrives at the Camp Nou off the back of helping AC Milan win their first Serie A title in 11 years, and it seems his now-ex-teammate at the San Siro, Ibrahimovic, gave him some encouragement to go ahead and make the move to Catalonia.
The Sweden international himself played for the five-time European champions between 2009 and 2011, under Pep Guardiola, but left in acrimonious circumstances after a fallout with the Spanish tactician.
Now Barca is being led by one of Ibrahimovic's former Blaugrana teammates in Xavi Hernandez, who approved Kessie's signing, and the Ivorian has expressed his eagerness to play for the famed club and meet the technical staff as well as his new teammates.
"I can give my confidence to my teammates. I have to work with them, I'm in a hurry to start. I want to play with my teammates," he added.
"When a player starts playing, it is to go forward. I have reached an important place. I want to show what I can do. I have to meet the technical bench and colleagues."
Kessie proved an integral squad member at both Atalanta and AC Milan while playing in the south of Europe, and according to Joan Laporta, Xavi thinks the west African will be able to reinforce Barca the same way he did the aforementioned teams.
"We are very satisfied because our coach (Xavi Hernandez) wanted a player like him. It is the first addition of this summer. He is a midfielder who also has arrival and the ability to protect the defence," the Barca chief said.
"Welcome, Kessie. I am very happy about the incorporation of this player. He is a great professional, he has always wanted to come to Barca. We want players who want to come to Barca.
"Also thanks to his representative, his family... The coach wanted him to strengthen the team."
