Chelsea supporters had been starved of genuine transfer news for much of the summer of 2021. Yet as August approached – and with the new season on the horizon – news emerged that the European champions were close to agreeing a move for a highly-regarded defender: Jules Kounde.
Personal terms had been struck over a five-year contract; no problem there. The next step was to submit an offer to the centre-back's club, Sevilla. It was hoped a bid of £43 million-plus add-ons would be enough. Unfortunately, that didn't prove the case. Yet Chelsea remained confident and put the transfer on the backburner as they finalised a club-record deal for Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian's £97.5million return from Inter Milan was concluded on August 13. There was still plenty of time for Chelsea to secure Kounde's services – and they attempted to despite the emergence of Trevoh Chalobah under Thomas Tuchel during pre-season.
