Chelsea fell short of striking a deal with Jules Koundé because they failed to meet the defender’s release clause and failed to respond to a counter.
The Blues pushed for a deal to sign the Sevilla star in the final weeks of the summer transfer window but failed to pull off the transfer.
There were some claims that Chelsea had agreed a deal with Sevilla at one point, while Fabrizio Romano claimed person terms were never a problem.
But the move never went ahead, and Sevilla chief Monchi has since claimed the transfer was not completed because Chelsea failed to reach Koundé’s release clause, which did not increase despite reports claiming it did.
“The only offer from Chelsea for Kounde was last Wednesday for an amount we didn’t like,” he said in a press conference earlier this week.
“It was not enough for us. We responded with a counter-offer which had a deadline of Friday, to allow us to be able to sign a replacement. They did not respond to that counter-offer before Friday.
“Kounde’s clause never went up to €90million (£77.1million). It has always been €80million (£68.5milllion). We met at the end of May to discuss our targets for the window.
“I’m happy with how it went, but not 100% satisfied. There have been some factors such as the salary cap that have affected the plans.”
Those quotes suggest an agreement was not reached, but either way, ultimately, Chelsea failed to bid what they needed to get their hands on Koundé and that is the long and short of it.
In the modern market, release clauses simply have to met if they are in play, and especially cases involving players as talented as Koundé.
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The 22-year-old is a France international and was brilliant for Sevilla last season as they achieved their best ever points total in La Liga.
On the back of that, Sevilla were never going to allow Koundé to leave on the cheap, not even in a post-pandemic market, knowing they will get the fee they want in time, even if it could not be this summer.