The future of Jules Kounde has been a topic of conversation for well over a year at this point, with the Sevilla centre-back at a high level for each of his three seasons in La Liga. At just 23 years of age, he already has experience of top level football, international football with France and has won a European competition too. It’s no surprise that he garners a lot of attention.
Sevilla, from their point of view, seem almost resigned that they will not be able to hang onto him beyond this summer. At least that was the impression that Jose Maria Cruz gave.
“Again, the player, I am sure, respects Sevilla FC. He is happy with us. In the case of Koundé, it is not a matter of money. It’s a matter of him wanting to play in a more competitive team than Sevilla FC,” the Spanish club’s general director explained to SportWitness, as quoted by Marca.
“I am sure he is a player that is attractive for teams like Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and these types of teams. He wants to play in a more competitive team.”
Cruz also compared the situation with that of Clement Lenglet, who moved to Barcelona for €35.9m in 2018.
“It’s the same case we had some years ago with Lenglet. He was very happy, but he thought after playing some years at Sevilla, he was prepared to go to Barcelona.
“The first time we received an offer for him was a season before he was transferred. He [Lenglet] and his father told us they didn’t to leave Sevilla then because they preferred to stay here and play a lot of matches.”
Although Los Nervionenses might be disappointed to lose Kounde, if it does eventually happen, it won’t worry them per se. Sevilla have infinite trust in Sporting Director Monchi to be able to find a replacement and reinvest the profits elsewhere. It’s a model that has been employed at Sevilla for some time, as evidenced by the sale of Lenglet, with Kounde arriving the following year.
