Chelsea to beat Barcelona to Sevilla’s Jules Kounde
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 3 min read
Chelsea are set to take a decisive step towards securing the transfer of Jules Kounde from Sevilla imminently.
The clubs are expected to reach an agreement on a transfer fee that is expected to be worth around €60 million all in. According to FootballTransfers’ information, around €55m of that will be paid up front.
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It has been a deal that has been bubbling for months. Indeed, Chelsea launched a bid for Kounde in the summer of 2022 only to be knocked back because they would not agree to match his €80m release clause.
Barcelona have been intently chasing the France centre-back in recent months, but he will finally move to Stamford Bridge.
Indeed, after such a protracted transfer saga, it could now be brought to an end very swiftly indeed.
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Chelsea have everything in place
Sevilla are ready to settle for Chelsea’s offer, FootballTransfers understands, with an acceptable bid tabled by the Premier League side tabled on Tuesday. It has not been accepted as Barca were being the opportunity to reciprocate, potentially leaving the winning side in this transfer race up to the player.
While the Spanish club had hoped to start a bidding war between the Blues and Barcelona, the Catalan side have been unable to respond, with their league rivals demanding a cash-only deal. Having just secured the arrival of Robert Lewandowski and without their second economic lever yet in place, it appears that they are in no position to do this.
As previously reported by FootballTransfers, Kounde and Chelsea already have personal terms in place, so everything is geared towards the 23-year-old moving to Stamford Bridge.
The hold-up appears to be created on the part of Barcelona. Sevilla have given the Catalans the opportunity to respond to Chelsea’s bid, which if they cannot do, they will be forced to walk away from the deal. Indeed, reports in Spain suggest that they are already looking at other targets.
Kounde did not train with Sevilla on Wednesday and the club will not take him on their pre-season training camp in Portugal because they are already planning for his exit, Ben Jacobs reports.
It seems, therefore, that the stars are aligning for Chelsea to complete their long-awaited Kounde transfer very quickly.
