After an entire year of trying to sign the 23-year-old defender, Jules Kounde is still a Sevilla player. Chelsea have worked effortlessly in securing a deal for Kounde since the last summer transfer window. At this point, the two clubs have yet to come to an agreement on a fee. There have been several rumours indicating that Sevilla would accept a £56 million bid, but Chelsea are no longer the front runner in the player's preference.
It's between the Blues and of course, Barcelona, are in the race to sign Kounde. The rumours are up and down the scale and quite frankly, it's hard to keep up. One minute Chelsea and Sevilla are on the same page, the next, Barcelona are confident in signing the Frenchman. The Chelsea fanbase are rather fed up with the back and forth and I for one would rather just move on.
Jules Kounde would be a perfect fit for Thomas Tuchel's system. His determination in 1v1s and his accelerating pace make him a key priority for Chelsea’s back line. As a ball-playing centre-back, on paper, Kounde should've been the first player through the door. Of course, the uncertainty around his minor pelvic injury may have played a part in the urge to look in the direction of Matthijs de Ligt but they are now back where they started.
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The transfer window as a whole has been rather underwhelming for the Blues. Signing Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly for under £85 million comes as a shock, but there are still gaps to be filled and players to be replaced. Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso could be set to join Andreas Christensen in Barcelona before the close of the transfer window, yet Chelsea are still pondering on the same transfer target from last year.
Following Chelsea's embarrassing 4-0 pre-season defeat to Arsenal in Orlando, Tuchel was asked for an update on Jules Kounde to which he responded, "There is no update". The Premier League returns in just under two weeks, yet Chelsea are unable to provide an update or any clear indication about where they stand with the transfer of Kounde. It's raising alarm bells as their situation becomes increasingly desperate.
Tuchel added: "We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players. We've got two quality players – that is no doubt – but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today."
The Blues have a lot to figure out for the rest of the transfer window. Time is ticking and judging from the disastrous display against Arsenal this weekend, they need more than just Jules Kounde to reinstall faith into the Chelsea fanbase. There's not much time left.
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