Real Madrid are reportedly stepping up their efforts to seal the transfer of AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie next summer.

The Ivory Coast international is nearing the end of his current contract with Milan, and it seems Real Madrid are eager to snap him up if or when he comes a free agent, according to Todo Fichajes.

Kessie has shown his quality during his career at the San Siro, and it’s easy to see why Real would be interested in him as a possible upgrade on Casemiro in the middle of the park.

It could be bad news for Manchester United, however, who are also looking light in that area of the pitch at the moment as the likes of Fred, Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay struggle for form.

Calciomercato have previously linked Man Utd as another club keen to sign Kessie, and they might not have a better opportunity to sign such a top talent without paying huge sums of money.

They’ve also been strongly linked with Declan Rice by the Independent, and he’s likely to cost a great deal more than Kessie.

Some might feel it would be worth paying more to sign Rice over Kessie, but United have been taken in by big names and transfer fees in the past, so could perhaps do well to consider the cheaper option here.

Unfortunately, one can easily imagine that for a player like Kessie, it would be a lot more tempting to move to Madrid over MUFC right now.

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