Jules Kounde: How much are Chelsea and Barcelona offering in salary?
Cameron Smith
- 21 Jul 2022 15:30 BST
- 3 min read
Sevilla and France defender Jules Kounde is wanted by both Chelsea and Barcelona this summer, with the two teams locked in a battle to win the race for his signature.
Kounde, 23, joined Sevilla from Bordeaux in 2019 and has become one of the world's best defenders during his time in the Spanish top flight.
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His performances have seen plenty of clubs take interest, and Chelsea and Barcelona are now the two teams hoping to sign him this summer.
Thomas Tuchel's side actually had a deal all but agreed in 2021, but Sevilla upped their asking price for Kounde at the last minute, which prompted Chelsea to pull out of the deal and give a chance to academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah.
However, the Blues are back in for him this transfer window and are hoping to make him their third signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City and Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli.
As for Barcelona, they have already added Andreas Christensen to their backline, while Franck Kessie, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski have all arrived further forward.
While Chelsea had turned their back on Kounde in order to pursue both Nathan Ake and Matthijs de Ligt earlier in the window, they are now reportedly leading the race for his signature after Ake decided to stay at Man City and De Ligt joined Bayern Munich.
It's believed that Kounde is happy to join either Chelsea or Barcelona, but the Blues are currently presenting a better offer.
Chelsea leading the race
According to the Evening Standard's Nizaar Kinsella, Chelsea have submitted a fresh €65 million (£55m) bid to Sevilla for Kounde, and it's believed the Spanish side would rather than to the Premier League side in order to not strengthen a direct rival.
Personal terms have already been agreed with Kounde and Chelsea, and Spanish journalist Gerard Romero has reported that the salary the Blues have offered is far greater than their Spanish counterparts.
According to Romero, Chelsea have offered Kounde a yearly salary of €12m to join the Stamford Bridge side, while Barcelona can reportedly only offer the Frenchman around €6-7m if he was to join this summer, due to their bloated wage bill.
