Barcelona are reportedly poised to hijack Chelsea's £55million move for Jules Kounde - just days after it was claimed they missed out on a deal for Kalidou Koulibaly because they had "no money".
The Catalan giants were pipped to a deal for Koulibaly, who became the Blues' second summer capture in a £33m switch earlier this month. Chelsea always appeared to be in pole position to land the coveted defender, with Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis claiming that he had told Koulibaly that he couldn't let him join Barcelona as they had "no money".
But the La Liga outfit are set to go head-to-had against Chelsea again in the race for Kounde, who looks set to finally leave Sevilla this summer.
According to SPORT, Barcelona have 'agreed terms' on a four-year deal with Kounde, who had seemingly been on the verge of a move to Stamford Bridge. The Blues failed in an attempt to bring the 23-year-old to the Premier League last year but rekindled their interest after losing the services of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
The report goes on to outline that Barcelona's bid will fall short of the £55m package that Chelsea have tabled for Kounde, but the Spanish giants intend to pay the entire sum up front and believe that Sevilla will 'accept the terms' of their offer.
Kounde's arrival would be the latest big-money deal that Barcelona have pulled off this summer despite concerns o. The Spanish giants have been busy in the transfer market, with Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski arriving for a combined sum of around £90m. Christensen and Franck Kessie have also moved to the Nou Camp on free transfers.
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Losing out to Barcelona on Kounde would be a major blow for Tuchel, who is running out of time to assemble a new defence. The 2022/23 Premier League campaign is now just over a fortnight away, and the Blues have only added Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling to their ranks so far this summer.
Chelsea have also been less than impressive during their pre-season tour of the United States, with Tuchel tearing into his squad after they were thumped 4-0 by Arsenal at the weekend. And the Blues chief has already admitted that he doesn't know if his team will be ready for their opening match of the season against Everton.
Tuchel raged: "I can not guarantee it. I saw today a team in Arsenal who are mentally committed to an idea of playing, a level of exhaustion, a level of physical commitment that we could not match."
