Jules Kounde has been Chelsea's first-choice target for their backline for around 12 months and when news broke on Monday evening that the 23-year-old was due to undergo surgery the following day, it felt like the transfer was about to take another twist.
Didier Deschamps confirmed the news was over a longstanding issue, but the furore was not close to quelled until Sevilla put out a statement of their own. "If everything goes as expected, the French international will be available for the start of the 2022/23 season," the La Liga side said.
While the operation appears to have been planned for a number of weeks, and there is little reason to suspect Chelsea did not know about the pelvic issue Kounde is suffering from, it does somewhat justify their position of having not landed the defender already.
