Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui has provided insight into why Jules Kounde didn’t sign for Chelsea in the summer transfer window.
Chelsea were linked with Kounde for several weeks of the window, but the transfer never came to fruition.
As reported by Sky Sports, Kounde himself wanted to move to Stamford Bridge, but the parties couldn’t come to an agreement, with the Frenchman staying at Sevilla.
The report claims that Sevilla wanted Chelsea to pay a figure near his £68.5m [€80m] release clause, something the club clearly were not prepared to do.
Still, Chelsea fans will have been excited at the prospect of signing one of the finest defenders in the world, so any official explanation they can be given to explain why the deal didn’t go through would surely be appreciated.
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Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui, who’ll likely be delighted that Kounde didn’t depart, has provided one. He’s quoted by Diario de Sevilla saying:
“Koundé in the end has stayed because the club has decided that it was the right thing to do based on the evaluation of the offers they may have had and for me, as a coach, that Jules stays is positive, without any doubt.”
Chelsea have no pressing need for a new centre-back, especially after the emergence of Trevoh Chalobah in pre-season.
Kounde was likely earmarked by the board as a player who could play in the Blues’ back-line for years to come, rather than being an immediate upgrade on Thomas Tuchel’s current options.
Assuming Chelsea and Sevilla haven’t left things on terrible terms, there’s every possibility that this deal could be revived in one of the transfer windows to come.