Who is Jules Kounde? The Sevilla star who nearly joined Man City and is wanted by Man Utd and Arsenal

Martin Macdonald

Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
5 min read

Who is Jules Kounde? The Sevilla star who nearly joined Man City and is wanted by Man Utd and Arsenal — © ProShots

Jules Kounde is one of the most wanted young ball-playing central defenders in the world at the moment.

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His compatriot Dayot Upamecano recently went for big money due to his similar quallitifes, while in the past couple of years Juventus and Manchester City have spent big on Matthijs de Ligt and Ruben Dias respectively due to their prowess playing out from the back.

Several teams like Real Madrid, Man City, and Manchester United have been linked with a play for his signature, and now Arsenal have been credited with an interest, too.

Kounde, too will cost a similarly big transfer fee. The 22-year-old joined Sevilla in the summer of 2019 from Bordeaux for a reported £21 million (€25m), so any hopeful suitors will need to eclipse that if they are to have any hope of prying him away from the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

What position does Jules Kounde play in?

Kounde has played as a central defender for the majority of his short senior career despite his relatively small height of 5 ft 8, but what he lacks in vertical presence he makes up for in aggression and intensity.

Although he is no stranger to a tackle, his best attribution is his distribution from the back as a ball-playing central defender.

How good is Jules Kounde?

Good enough that Man City very nearly trigged his £64m (€75m) release clause in the summer before eventually deciding on Dias of Benfica instead.

Within the 2020/21 La Liga, he has won the majority of his duels, the majority of his aerial duels, and the majority of his tackles.

He enjoys the sixth-highest amount of touches of the central defenders in the league who have played over 500 minutes and the fifth most passes for a completion rate of 90%

Despite Sevilla rejecting what was at the time labelled a “magnificent offer” from Man City, director of football Monchi has praised Kounde’s professionalism since the deal didn’t materialise.

“He has been professional,” Monchi told El Desmarque.

“Sometimes we are so used to seeing less professional behaviour that we are struck by the normal.

“He has accepted with normality that he has signed a contract, with a clause and some payments. I appreciate that because it’s always easier when the other party understands your position.

“He has had professional and respectful behaviour with the club that has given him the opportunity to take another step in his career.”

What clubs are interested in Jules Kounde?

Over the past 12 months the club who has had the most high-profile interest in Kounde has been Man City, as mentioned above, with the player even revealing that he spoke to Pep Guardiola about a potential move.

“Yes, I spoke with Pep Guardiola. he revealed to Canal Football Club. “We spoke in Spanish. Everything went well. I was interested in going there and I had guarantees that I would play. But it didn’t happen.”

City then went out and bought Dias, who has took to the Premier League like a duck to water.

Now, with Dias, Aymeric Laporte, and the resurgent John Stones available, it is highly unlikely that Man City will reignite their interest in Kounde in the summer.

That has, however, presented an opportunity for Manchester United to swoop in.

The Red Devils will be on the lookout for a central defender this summer as a long-term partner for Harry Maguire, with the likes of Sergio Ramos, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Raphael Varane all getting a mention.

The Daily Mail reports that Man Utd are not willing to trigger Kounde’s release clause, though, meaning they will have to negotiate Sevilla’s asking price down in order to land their man.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are also interested, but the former cannot afford him and the latter already rejected the option of a first refusal on the player from Sevilla.

The most recently club to be linked with Kounde is Arsenal, who are now in the running after Sevilla allegedly lowered his asking price from £77m (€90m) to £51m (€59m).

Though The Gunners are not seen to be front-runners in the race for Kounde, they are certainly in with a better shout now that the fee has been drastically reduced.