Chelsea’s possible signing of Sevilla defender Jules Kounde this summer seems to have played a part in Andreas Christensen’s decision to leave Stamford Bridge for a transfer to Barcelona.
According to The Athletic, although nothing has been officially announced yet, Christensen is set to quit Chelsea for Barca, and the report explains that there was a sense that Kounde could join the Blues on a better contract than the Denmark international.
Kounde has been a star performer for Sevilla in recent times, and he seems ideal to come in as a replacement for Christensen, with many fans likely to feel he’ll be an upgrade anyway.
The bigger loss by far is surely Antonio Rudiger, who is also heading towards the end of his contract, with Fabrizio Romano recently reporting that he’ll join Real Madrid on a free transfer…
Everything is now done between Real Madrid and Toni Rüdiger. The deal has been completed, club sources confirm: he will play for Real. ???? #RealMadrid
Contract until 2026, there’s no option for further season.
Official announcement: end of the season.
Here we go confirmed. pic.twitter.com/N6zn9w5pcR
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 10, 2022
Chelsea have not done well here to allow two key players to become free agents in the same summer, but one imagines the sanctions against Roman Abramovich didn’t help matters.
Still, it also seems that Christensen had issues about the possible signing of Kounde as well, in which case, most Blues fans will surely be saying “good riddance” to the 26-year-old.