Barcelona look set to gazump Chelsea yet again with Sevilla defender Jules Kounde on the brink of joining the Catalan side - just hours after a move to Stamford Bridge looked imminent.
The two European giants have been going hammer and tong all summer over a number of targets. Barca beat them to the post with Leeds winger Raphinha, with the Blues pivoting to Manchester City 's Raheem Sterling instead. There were also substantial reports claiming Thomas Tuchel's team held an interest in Robert Lewandowski, who also chose to head to Catalonia rather than the Premier League.
There's been movement directly between the clubs too, although Chelsea weren't able to do much about defender Andreas Christensen joining Barca on a free. They still hold the cards over a potential move for Cesar Azpilicueta in the same direction, but that deal now appears dead in the water anyway amid reports that Sevilla defender Kounde has been snatched from under Chelsea's nose. Less than 24 hours ago, the Telegraph's Matt Law reported that Kounde was set to sign for Chelsea, who were believed to have blown their Catalan competition out of the water with a £55m bid. Corroborating reports in Spain noted a contract offer worth almost £200,000 per week over five years, which was seen as "too important" for the La Liga team to compete with.
Should the deal go ahead, it's likely to create even more tension between Chelsea and Barcelona, after Thomas Tuchel expressed his "annoyance" at how they've handled their interest in his captain Azpilicueta. It's an open secret the 32-year-old wants the move - but he may not get it now due to Barcelona's refusal to "fight" for his services.
“It is also about us and the comparison of how much we fought for Kalidou Koulibaly," Tuchel said. "We have a Spanish international player, captain for Chelsea and I see it on the same level but Barcelona does not see it on that level. So I’m not sure if I want to give Azpi what he wants.”
Tension is also likely to arise from just how Barca are managing to gazump them to several key targets considering the financial disarray they are in. Their last accounts showed more than £1 billion of debt and they have had serious issues registering the signings they're making - even Ousmane Dembele is yet to be re-registered after re-signing.
They're allegedly refusing to cough up hundreds of thousands in unpaid wages to Frenkie de Jong, who is in turn refusing to push for an exit in case they use it against him in court and tear up his contract. It's the same issue that forced the greatest player of all time out of the door against his will.
And yet here they are, pretending all is fine, ploughing ahead with £55m deal for Kounde which will take them to almost £150m spent on transfer fees alone this summer.
Chelsea, whose rise to the top of the European game was backed by a Russian oligarch, are hardly in a position to be taking any moral high ground. But it's easy to see where the frustration is coming from as another target looks set to snub them for Catalonia. Certainly as far as Tuchel is concerned.
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