I think we really lack a player like Kessie tbh. He’s underrated as a player by many on this forum I think. I distinctly remember him completely obliterating us in more than one derby and being Milan’s best midfielder in a while before Tonali started stepping up.
Barella is a more attacking oriented player than Kessie, but I get the comparison. He could certainly deputize for him, but I still think we lack someone with his characteristics. Gagliardini is supposed to be that guy, but we all know he’s not.
I wouldn’t do a straight swap because Brozo is a core player but Kessie+a decent fee might be tempting. Brozovic is a legend but his fitness is becoming more of a concern and fixture schedules aren’t becoming any less dense.
Plus Hakan has arguably played better in that position and we are developing Asllani.