Would Denzel Dumfries be a sufficient alternative to Chelsea transfer target Jules Kounde?
The Frenchman is now Barcelona-bound after the Blues withdrew from the race due to the 23-year-old's preference to seal his ideal Camp Nou dream. Whilst Barca and Sevilla negotiate a fee for the central defender, it is expected that the offer coming in from the Catalan giants will be less than what the Blues had verbally agreed with Monchi.
football.london understands that the west Londoners did all they could to seal the Les Bleus international including agreeing verbally on a £55million deal with the Andalusians. Personal terms were also agreed upon some time ago but just like with Raphinha, Xavi's inspirational phone call reportedly turned Kounde's head.
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"The latest in what has to be the most tedious transfer sagas in recent memory is that Kounde has decided to join Barcelona, who are sorting themselves out in order to get an acceptable bid into Sevilla," Chelsea correspondent for football.london's Adam Newson updated in his most recent Q&A session.
"Chelsea have started to move on to different targets and things may move swiftly on Inter Milan's Denzel Dumfries, although he is a wing-back rather than a centre-back and it begs the question as to whether Reece James will be used more regularly in the back three this season."
Alongside Dumfries, the likes of Presnel Kimepmbe and others are being eyed but the focus seems to be on the 26-year-old who Inter Milan value at around £34million.
Whilst no direct contacts have been made as of yet between Chelsea and Inter, there is expected to be some movement on this front in the forthcoming days. It's important to remember that the Blues tried for the Euro 2021 breakout star when negotiating with Internazionale for Romelu Lukaku but the Italians, like with Milan Skriniar, rejected any player swaps at the time.
If Chelsea were to sign the defender this summer, they will have to beat Man United to the punch with Erik ten Hag a big admirer of a player he sees as his Aaron Wan Bissaka replacement.
But is all the hype around the Dutchman justified and would he be a good addition to the Premier League? Based on Gary Neville's previous comments on the player in question, the answer is no.
“He’s not a defender, at all," Neville said, while on punditry duty for Sky Sports back in 2019. “From the first minute, everything has looked off.”
Three years later and Dumfries must have improved to an extent where some of the European elite have been noticing his rapid development in Serie A. After all, working under managers like Antonio Conte can only be a prominent sign, especially considering how the now Spurs manager turned Victor Moses into the complete defender when the pair were together during Chelsea's latest Premier League title-winning year.
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