Jules Kounde was all but officially ‘sold’ to Chelsea before the London club pulled out, Sevilla director Monchi has admitted as he explained the sale of the French defender to Sevilla supporters.
Kounde ended up joining Spanish rivals Barcelona after they seemingly hijacked the Blues’ move for the defender, with the Frenchman signing for the Catalan side in a deal worth 50m euros plus add-ons.
❗ ÚLTIMA HORA
Principio de acuerdo con el Sevilla para el traspaso de @jkeey4
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But, speaking to the Sevilla faithful, Monchi revealed that it could have transpired very differently had Chelsea not pulled out of a potential deal.
“On Thursday night Koundé was ‘sold’ to Chelsea. They began to have doubts and pulled out”, Sevilla’s technical director revealed.
“Then Barcelona appeared. The first time Alemany got in contact was on Monday, We received an offer that was lower than what we had in mind, but we renegotiated with them and reached an agreement for a club-record sale.”
“Chelsea came back again, but Barcelona’s offer was better”, he added.
What were Chelsea’s doubts?
Having pursued the player for over a year, it seems odd that Chelsea had doubts over his ability. However, according to the Guardian, ‘Thomas Tuchel is not entirely convinced about signing Koundé. There are doubts over whether the 5ft 10in defender is tall enough to succeed in the Premier League’.
The Blues are now left scrambling ahead of the new season kicking off in a week’s time, having only made two new signings and having seen three first XI options leave this summer.
Options include Benjamin Pavard, who is thought to be keen to leave Bayern Munich this summer and could be the easiest deal to complete.
They remain interested in Inter Milan duo Milan Skriniar and Denzel Dumfries, but the pair would not come cheap, valued at 70m euros and 45m euros respectively by the Italian club.
Meanwhile, Leicester would be willing to part ways with Wesley Fofana, who the Blues have held a longstanding interest, but only for a fee in excess of the £80m that they received for Harry Maguire.
