Chelsea's defensive search has taken another twist since the Kalidou Koulibaly signing after missing out on new Barcelona recruit Jules Kounde.
There was a point recently where the Blues had thought they had beaten the Catalan based club to the punch for the 23-year-old but Xavi's influence once again prevailed as the west Londoners' misery was compounded once more. Kounde's decision to stay in La Liga and snub Chelsea for Barca compounded onto the Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha hurt that was felt in the early parts of the transfer window.
football.london understood that a verbal agreement was in place between the Blues and Sevilla over a £55million deal for the defender plus personal terms done a while ago but a sudden U-turn after a Xavi call meant that Barca prevailed once again. "Xavi is a big reason as to why I’m here. His spiel convinced me, I’m excited to start working with the team," Kounde said in his first in-house interview via The Evening Standard. "It’s clear that we see football in the same way."
