Best Alternatives to Franck Kessié

Playing Style Analysis

Kessié arrives in the Pro League carrying the ghost of a reputation built at Milan — and the numbers suggest he's not entirely done justifying it. His goalscoring rate sits in the top 20% among midfielders in this league, a quiet reminder that his engine-room presence still carries an attacking punch most box-to-box players in this division simply can't match. Here's the counterintuitive part: his shots per 90 rank in the top 30%, yet his key passes and assists are below average — meaning Kessié is shooting where others pass, backing himself rather than threading teammates through. The three closest DNA matches to Franck Kessié:

• Ismaël Koné(85% match) — A Balanced Midfielder. Statistically, he stands out as meticulous in distribution (92% pass accuracy) and wins the physical battle (56% duel success).
• Djaoui Cissé(84% match) — A Ball-Winner. Statistically, he stands out as a capable chance creator (1.2 key passes/90), an aggressive ball-winner (3.1 tackles/90), heavily involved in play (66 touches/90), active off the ball (2.6 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions and top 10% tackler in the league.
• Pape Gueye(84% match) — A Box-to-Box. Statistically, he stands out as naturally left-footed, a regular goalscorer (0.22 goals/90), wins the physical battle (60% duel success), heavily involved in play (63 touches/90), draws fouls effectively (2.3/90), uses long balls frequently (7.1/90) and active off the ball (2.6 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.

Similarity uses per-90 performance across playing-style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →