French defender ready to join Barcelona if Chelsea move falls through - Reports

Sevilla defender Jules Kounde is willing to sign for Barcelona, but only if a move to Chelsea or any other European heavyweight falls through, a report from AS has claimed.

Kounde is widely hailed as one of the best defenders in La Liga. The centre-back is a calm presence at the back, is great at reading the game and is a good distributor. His skill set makes him the perfect centre-back for teams like Chelsea and Barca, who like to build from the back.

As per AS, both teams are interested in signing the 23-year-old defender, but he prefers a move to Stamford Bridge over a switch to the Camp Nou. It has been reported that the Blues are finally willing to pay €60 million-plus variables that Sevilla are asking for their star.

Thomas Tuchel’s side agreed personal terms with Kounde some time ago. But their strategy of parallelly negotiating with Matthijs de Ligt, Kalidou Koulibaly, and more hasn’t sat well with the Frenchman.

Kounde still reportedly has his heart set on Chelsea but would be open to joining Barcelona if the English giants do not reach an agreement with Sevilla. If the west London club do what’s necessary, Kounde will unhesitantly join them, shooting down advances from the Blaugrana.

It is believed that Xavi is a great admirer of the defender, but the Barca manager is not in control of the situation. The player already has reservations about Barcelona's finances and sporting project and is set to ditch them if any big European club agrees to meet Sevilla’s demands.

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Chelsea must accelerate pursuit of Barcelona target Kounde

With Bayern closing in on De Ligt and Koulibaly negotiating with Juventus, the Stamford Bridge outfit need to accelerate their hunt for Kounde.

Having already lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, they cannot afford to miss out on the France international.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s super-agent Jorge Mendes reportedly had a meeting with new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly. Among other things, the duo also discussed the signing of Kounde. Kounde is not represented by Mendes, but the Portuguese agent is helping Sevilla as they look to find their defender a new home.

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