Jules Kounde has agreed a five-year contract with Chelsea ahead of a move from Sevilla, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Kounde has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea in recent weeks.
The Frenchman appears to have all the necessary attributes to thrive in Thomas Tuchel’s system, with his ability to bring the ball out from defence and step into midfield notable.
The 22-year-old is one of the most promising young defenders on the planet, and subject to Chelsea agreeing a fee with Sevilla, he’ll seemingly be on his way to Stamford Bridge.
Here’s the latest that Fabrizio Romano had to say on the matter.
Jules Koundé has an agremeent on personal terms with Chelsea until June 2026 since weeks. He’s ready to join if the two clubs reach an agreement but he’ll be respectful with Sevilla, not forcing his move ? #CFC
Zouma to West Ham, key to proceed. Talks ongoing on personal terms.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 23, 2021
MORE: West Ham and Chelsea agree £25.7m Zouma fee but stumbling block remains
The agreement on personal terms is considerable, of course but that was never going to be the most difficult part of the deal from Chelsea’s perspective.
The Blues are European champions, competing for the Premier League title and the Champions League once again under one of the best managers in the world.
They will also presumably be offering Kounde a considerable pay hike, and we’d be ignorant to suggest that hasn’t played a part in the player’s decision making process.
The difficulty of this deal is agreeing a fee with Sevilla lower than his release clause, as well as shifting Kurt Zouma to raise funds for the expenditure.
There’s still plenty for Marina Granovskaia to solve before we can consider Kounde to Chelsea as imminent.