Chelsea have been dealt a potential blow in their pursuit of Jules Kounde as the player takes a step towards Barcelona instead.
The Blues appeared confident that they had done enough to finally secure a deal for the 23-year-old when they sent in a £55m offer on Friday but were kept in the dark as Barcelona continued to delay proceedings over the weekend.
Earlier last week, the Spanish giants managed to convince Kounde to join his Sevilla teammates in Portugal for their pre-season tour, much to the annoyance of Chelsea.
