Barcelona boss Xavi has held talks with Jules Kounde over his future amid fresh links with Chelsea.
The Blues were strongly linked with a move for the French defender last summer as Todd Boehly attempted to bolster his side’s defence. In the end, Chelsea were beaten to the punch by the Catalan giants.
Barcelona signed the centre-back for a fee of €55million (£47.7m) from Spanish rivals Sevilla, with Kounde then putting pen to paper on a five-year contract at the Camp Nou. However, fresh claims have surfaced over the past few days that he may be looking to move on after just 12 months.
Spanish outlet SPORT suggested that he had requested to leave after not being able to play in his favoured centre-back berth. Interest is also thought to be high with both Manchester United and Manchester City linked, whilst it is reported that Chelsea would be willing to renew their interest.
Barca boss Xavi has admitted that he has held discussions with Kounde and was satisfied with the outcome. He said: “I spoke to him, yes, we were happy and everything was clear. I don’t see any problems. We both came out of the meeting happy.”
The Spaniard has not yet indicated whether Kounde’s future remains in Catalonia. The 24-year-old has made 38 appearances in all competitions for Barca this season, scoring once and providing six assists.
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Whilst he has predominantly been used at right-back, his performances have helped the club to the La Liga title, whilst Barcelona also won the Spanish Super Cup at the start of the campaign.
Despite Chelsea being left frustrated in their attempts to sign Kounde last summer, they still managed to spend heavily on their defence. The Blues swooped for former Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibably for a £34m fee, whilst Wesley Fofana quickly arrived for £70m from Leicester.
Ex-Brighton man Marc Cucurella has also deputised in a central position following his big-money switch in the summer but so far the Spaniard has failed to convince. That heavy defending continued in the winter window with Benoit Badiashile arriving from French side Monaco.
Chelsea are set to be without his services for the foreseeable future after he suffered a hamstring injury. Speaking about the defender’s problem, interim boss Frank Lampard said: “It's a big blow for him and I'm really disappointed with him. He's come here and impressed. The games before he got injured I was very happy with him.
“The injury is unfortunate and very complicated in his hamstring and we're talking months rather than weeks unfortunately. Hopefully the time over the summer means he's not missing games and he comes back stronger.”
