Jules Kounde admits he came close to joining Chelsea from Sevilla during the summer transfer window – but the France international had little hesitation about moving to Barcelona after preferring the pitch made by Xavi Hernandez to that of Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea's pursuit of Kounde was protracted. Their first approach came in July 2021 with former club Marina Granovskaia leading negotiations with Sevilla. There was confidence an agreement would be reached with the La Liga club yet Chelsea shifted focus and instead completed the club-record signing of Romelu Lukaku.
Granovskaia kickstarted Chelsea's attempts to sign Kounde later in the transfer window. However, with little time to bring in a worthy replacement, Sevilla understandably raised their asking price for the 23-year-old. The fee – around £60million – was not one the Blues were prepared to pay.
READ MORE Graham Potter handed important £20million Chelsea reminder that Todd Boehly kept secret
The transfer was put on ice, much to the frustration of the Frenchman. The expectation was that Chelsea would return for Kounde ahead of the summer of 2022, that they would secure the defender's signing early in order to give him every opportunity to settle in west London.
Few could anticipate what happened next. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February sparked a series of events at Stamford Bridge that led to Roman Abramovich deciding to sell Chelsea and the club having to operate under the sanctions imposed on the Russian by the UK government.
It was a tense period in which Chelsea's future was uncertain. Step forward Todd Boehly and a handful of the American billionaire's business partners. Their purchase of the Blues was completed at the end of May and they embarked on a record-breaking summer of spending in which Chelsea's move for Kounde was resurrected.
It was in mid-July that the Blues are understood to have verbally agreed a £55million deal with Sevilla for the France international. But no official bid was then submitted with Tuchel not completely sold on whether Kounde had the physical profile to thrive in the Premier League.
That enabled Barcelona to hijack the transfer and Kounde opted to move to the Camp Nou, although the club couldn't register him in their La Liga squad for almost a month due to the strict salary cap imposed on the Catalan giants. And the centre-back has now opened up on why he decided against a switch to Chelsea.
"It is true that I was not far from signing there this summer," Kounde explained in an interview with French outlet L'Equipe. "Barca were interested but had concerns. But when I got that phone call and I felt that Barca had the possibility of bringing me in, I didn’t hesitate much.”
Kounde confirmed he did speak with Tuchel as Chelsea negotiated a deal with Sevilla. Yet it Barcelona head coach Xavi that ultimately convinced him to head to the Camp Nou.
"Yes [I spoke with Tuchel] and I also felt a desire to make me come, but I simply preferred Xavi’s speech," he explained. "When I talked to him he told me that my qualities correspond to his game plan, starting from the back, playing high, using my qualities of speed and anticipation.
"He also wants an aggressive team: we are one of the teams that presses high, that runs more. He saw me in this system and I too, I saw myself in this team that I saw make a pretty crazy rise up the table. With Sevilla we were fifteen points ahead of them in the middle of the season and Barca, with Xavi, had a superb second half. I saw him play a lot, I saw the changes he made and what direction he was going in. I liked it."
READ NEXT:
- Graham Potter makes Romelu Lukaku return decision as contact made amid Inter Milan transfer plan
- Barcelona make swoop for another Chelsea star in search for Sergio Busquets replacement
- Graham Potter finds perfect answer to N'Golo Kante contract saga with £20m Chelsea transfer
- Chelsea scouts impressed by Bayer Leverkusen star after checking on Callum Hudson-Odoi progress
- Marina Granovskaia would have 'blocked Chelsea summer transfer' as Graham Potter decision made
