OFFICIAL: Kounde signs for Barcelona

Jules Kounde has undoubtedly been one of the most important names of this transfer window. The French centre-back has been one of the most sought after players this summer and has attracted the interest of many teams such as Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona. However, in the end the Catalan club and the London club were the ones to be the most serious bidders for the player. 

Xavi wanted to strengthen the squad for next season and once the attacking and midfield reinforcements were signed, the Spanish coach asked the board to go for Kounde as a major priority to bolster the defence. Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Tuchel was interested in the Frenchman, especially due to the departures of both Christensen and Rudiger, so the Blues’ main task was to sign Koulibaly and Kounde. 

Barça started with a certain disadvantage in the bidding as the club had a worse financial situation than that of the English club. However, although Chelsea could offer better financial terms to the centre-back and make a better proposal to Sevilla, the ‘Cules’ had something that the London club did not: Kounde had a great desire to play for the Catalan club and would be willing to accept any offer they made. 

Despite all this, for a moment, according to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea were very close to signing the player but, when the English club were closest to reaching an agreement with Sevilla, the Catalan giants reached an agreement in principle with him. This news was reported by journalist Gerard Romero, who also reportedly gave important news during the signing of Lewandowski. This agreement has now been confirmed by Barcelona themselves.

Finally, after three seasons and having scored nine goals and provided three assists in 136 official matches, Jules Kounde leaves Sevilla to start a new journey as a ‘Cule’.