Mateu Alemany confirms Barcelona talks Jules Kounde about his future as Chelsea show interest again
Barcelona Sporting Director Mateu Alemany has stated that the club will hold internal talks with Jules Kounde about his future as Chelsea have renewed their interest in the defender,
Despite being guaranteed to play in his preferred position, Kounde has grown dissatisfied with his position at Barcelona.
This season, the French defender has been played as a right-back for the bulk of the games, which has made him dissatisfied because he prefers to play as a centre-back.
However, Kounde has also played an important part in helping Barcelona win La Liga this season under coach Xavi Hernandez, making 27 La Liga appearances with one goal and two assists.
And now, the 24-year-old is open for a summer transfer, with Chelsea interested in a move. The Blues were also interested in the former Sevilla defender and came close to signing him for £55 million before the Catalan giants snatched the transfer away from them.
And now once again, it looks like Chelsea wants the French defender, (h/t Evening Standard) but sporting director Alemany has made it clear they talk about his future internally with DAZN:
“These are internal situations that we will resolve internally.”
This is an excellent opportunity to acquire the defender because Barcelona would prefer a natural right-back for next season, while Xavi has favoured Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen as centre-backs. So, if they are able to recruit a right-back, Kounde may fill in for Araujo or Christensen as a backup.
Even if the Blaugrana do sign a new right-back for the first-team, it will be interesting to see how Kounde will react to competing with the Dane and the Uruguayan for a starting spot.
More Chelsea News:
- Chelsea beat Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund to sign Kendry Paez
- Chelsea star Benoit Badiashile could miss the start of the 2023/24 season
- Arsenal are keen on signing Chelsea star Mason Mount next summer
The fact that he is a flexible defender makes him even more intriguing since we can use him at right-back in the event that Malo Gusto or Reece James get injured. Although going by the aforementioned report, let us keep him in central defence no matter what…