Birth Date:19 December 1996

Birth Place:Ouragahio

Nationality:Côte d'Ivoire

Height:183

Weight:88

Preferred Foot:Right

At AC Milan since:2017

Franck Yannick Kessie was born in Ouragahio, a city in the Ivory Coast, in December 1996. He began his career as a central defensive player at the Stella Club d'Adjamé youth team, which plays in Ivory Coast's first division, where he also made his debut in the first team.

In the mould of Yaya Touré and Essien, he played as a midfielder in his first season in Italy when on loan at Cesena from Atalanta, scoring four goals thanks to his physicality and his ability in the offensive zone. After returning to Atalanta, in the 2016/17 season, he scored four goals in the first three Serie A games. He was signed by AC Milan in the summer of 2017.

In four seasons he has played almost all matches, with at least 34 games in each league season. At the end of 2020/21 he had reached a total of 184 appearances and 30 goals, having scored 14 in the season that brought the Rossoneri back to the Champions League. He has also made 48 appearances and scored four goals for the Ivory Coast, with whom he has played two African Cup of Nations and has taken part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.