Blues confident of landing top-target despite hijack attempt from La Liga giants

Chelsea confident of signing Jules Kounde transfer amid Barcelona links

The Evening Standard reports that Chelsea remain in the driving seat in pursuit of Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, despite recent attention from Barcelona which has caused concerns of a potential hijack amongst the Blues faithful. 

The West Londoners have been courting Kounde for almost a year now, having already agreed to personal terms with the defender last year. However, the transfer didn’t go through due to Sevilla raising their valuation, to which Chelsea didn’t oblige.

This year, however, Sevilla are open to letting the 23-year-old leave provided the club’s valuation is met. Sevilla president Jose Castro has admitted to the same and made the club’s stance very clear by saying, 

“This happened last year and he will only be sold if the offer is the one that the club deems enough and acceptable so that he can leave, as we have always done.”

However, recent reports have suggested that Barcelona- despite their troubled financial situation, have somehow surged ahead of Chelsea in the race for Kounde but those reports have since cooled down, clearly indicating that Chelsea remain the frontrunners. 

The Blues need to hurry-up

Anything that drags on for too long is more often than not likely to get complicated, and Chelsea will hope that doesn’t turn out to be the case in these negotiations. The Frenchman seems keen on a move to Stamford Bridge, and it’s an agreement on a fee between Sevilla and Chelsea which has turned out to be a massive roadblock. 

Before any other clubs get involved, especially clubs with the financial muscle to challenge Chelsea unlike Barcelona, the Blues will need to be very concerned. 

Kounde is currently recovering from surgery on a minor pelvis issue, which had been bothering him all of last season. The same issue forced him off at half-time while he was playing for France in their 0-1 Nations League defeat to Croatia at home earlier this week. 

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The latest from Evening Standard suggests that Sevilla are likely to accept a fee in the region of £50million for Kounde, and given the current state of the transfer market, it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable price. 

Given Chelsea’s current defensive crisis, the Blues are more than likely to oblige by the end of the window and it does seem like a matter of when and not if.