- Barcelona's Kessie moves to Saudi side Al-Ahli

Barcelona’s Franck Kessie has completed a move to Saudi Pro League team Al-Ahli, as announced by the Laliga club on Wednesday. Al-Ahli will pay 12.5 million euros ($13.72 million) for the 26-year-old midfielder, who joined Barcelona from AC Milan in 2022. Despite his arrival at Barcelona, Kessie struggled to secure a spot in Xavi’s starting lineup. In light of this, Al-Ahli has appointed Matthias Jaissle as their manager on a three-year contract, following his dismissal from Red Bull Salzburg. Kessie is now the fifth European player to join Al-Ahli, alongside Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, and Alain Saint-Maximin. Al-Ahli recently returned to the Pro League after a season in the second division. Additionally, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has announced a Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization Project involving Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr, and Al-Hilal, with PIF owning 75% of each club and their respective non-profit foundations owning the remaining 25%. The reporting for this article was done by Shady Amir in Cairo and Tommy Lund in Gdansk, and it adheres to the Thomson RushHourDaily Trust Principles.