Spain’s Barcelona has beaten Chelsea again to sign French defender Jules Kounde following an agreement on a permanent deal with a fee estimated to be €55 million with Sevilla on Wednesday.
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“Barcelona and Sevilla have reached an agreement for the transfer of Jules Olivier Kounde, awaiting the player passing a medical and the signing of contracts”, both club confirm.
Kounde, 23, was the target for the London team last Summer, they presented several bids to Sevilla and reports suggested he was close to a move to Chelsea at the end of last week.
However, Barca upped their interest over the weekend, with sources telling ESPN that coach Xavi Hernandez’s insistence on signing the centre-back has been key in getting the deal over the line.
It’s the second time during the transfer window that Barcelona have defeated Chelsea in signing a player, after successfully bringing Leeds United Forward Raphinha after the London club had agreed a fee for the attacker.
Barca president Joan Laporta disclosed in an interview last week with ESPN that Chelsea, along with Paris Saint-Germain, had also tried to sign Robert Lewandowski, who joined the Blaugrana from Bayern Munich for €45m earlier this month.
Kounde becomes Barca’s sixth signing of a busy summer following the arrivals of Pablo Torre, Ivorian, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen from Chelsea, Raphinha and Lewandowski.
The French Defender joins Barca after three years in Spain with Sevilla, during which time he made 133 appearances, scoring nine goals. He joined Sevilla from Bordeaux for around €25m, and they are due a percentage of the fee from his switch to Camp Nou.
Neto, Oscar Mingueza, Samuel Umtiti, Riqui Puig and Martin Braithwaite were all left out of the tour of the United States to allow them to find new clubs, while Barca are also open to offers for other first-team players.
