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Football London
Football London
Sport
Anita Abayomi

Chelsea closing in on long-term transfer target Jules Kounde despite Barcelona hijack attempts

It looks as though Chelsea have reignited their interest in Jules Kounde as negotiations with Manchester City for Nathan Ake fall apart. The Blues had turned to Ake as a choice for Thomas Tuchel as he makes up for the loss in centre-backs this summer. Kounde was the initial target, but negotiations fell through somewhere along the line, and Todd Boehly's team turned their focus elsewhere.

With Chelsea signing Kalidou Koulibaly, the void left by Antonio Rudiger has been filled. It is now left for Tuchel to figure out who Andreas Christensen's replacement will be, as negotiations with Matthijs de Ligt have also fallen through. Unsurprisingly, the Blues picked things up where they left off with Sevilla.

While speaking with Sky Sports last week the Chelsea boss has mentioned that the priority is the defence right now, but to complete their quest for Kounde, they'll have to go through a familiar transfer rival.

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