Jules Kounde is now at Barcelona. (imago Images)
In what may come as a major boost to Chelsea, Sevilla have not named Jules Kounde for their training camp that gets underway in Portugal later today (h/t Express). This comes amid interest from Chelsea for the centre-back.
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui named a 31-man squad for the training camp and left out Kounde in it. Earlier, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano via Twitter had said that Chelsea had submitted a £55 million bid for the 23-year-old centre-back.
Romano claimed that it was very good payment terms and now talks were ongoing between the clubs on the structure of the bid. Kounde is said to be in talks with both Chelsea and Barcelona, with the Catalunya club also said to be interested in the Frenchman.
Thomas Tuchel has been in dire need to fix his backline this summer. His two senior centre-backs, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen departed the club for free last month to join Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. While we have already landed Kalidou Koulibaly, he alone won’t be enough to bridge the chasm in defence.
Chelsea’s interest in Kounde is not new, with reports claiming that the Frenchman was close to joining the Blues during the last summer window. The move is said to have collapsed with Sevilla increasing their valuation of the player at the last minute.
But now it seems that Chelsea may finally get their player. A young and experienced defender, the French international would be a terrific signing for the west London club. A centre-back who can also play as a right-back, he would add quality and depth to the Blues’ roster.
Should the move go through, he will become the third signing for the Blues following in the footsteps of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly. The Frenchman is likely to partner Thiago Silva and Koulibaly as the back three for Chelsea next season.
No one will be happier than Chelsea fans if the deal is completed as they have been anticipating this transfer to happen for a long time now. Hopefully, the saga will come to an end and Chelsea will be the happier of the two teams.
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