The Blaugrana will beat Chelsea in the market again, reports The Athletic. Barca, who previously took centre-back Andreas Christensen from the Blues and beat them to Leeds United winger Raphinha, have pipped the Premier League side to French defender Jules Kounde, who, at one point, looked set for a move to Stamford Bridge this summer.
The Catalans will pay Sevilla a basic fee of 50 million euros for the France international, plus an additional ten million wrapped up in add-ons. While the Blaugrana’s offer is less than Chelsea’s – 55 million pounds as per reports – the player’s eagerness to join the club ahead of a switch to England seems to have had a say in the final decision.
According to the report, Kounde was persuaded to wait for Barcelona’s offer to arrive after a phone call with Xavi Hernandez, manager of the senior men’s team. Additionally, Chelsea’s interest in pursuing other transfer targets ahead of the Frenchman – whom they came close to signing last summer only for Sevilla to pull out of the deal at the last moment – affected his decision to move to Catalunya instead.
The Blues, earlier in the window, set negotiations with Sevilla for Kounde aside to go after Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt, Manchester City’s Nathan Ake, and Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly – with the Senegalese being the only defender they managed to sign.
Kounde joined Sevilla in 2019 from Bordeaux. The 23-year-old formed a formidable partnership with Diego Carlos in central defence for the Andalusian outfit, eventually making 133 appearances for the club – and earning an international call-up in the process.
He will become Barcelona’s sixth signing of the season. The club previously signed Christensen and former AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie for free and paid 5 million euros for ex-Racing playmaker Pablo Torre. Moreover, they spent 58 million on Raphinha and 45 on Robert Lewandowski, who joined from Bayern Munich.
