Barcelona have secured their biggest transfer target of the summer after Robert Lewandowski’s signing was confirmed on Saturday. Attention will now turn to the defensive part of the pitch in all likelihood and there is one outstanding candidate.
Sevilla’s Jules Kounde remains both on the market and in wait of bid to take him out of Andalusia. For a time it looked as if Barcelona was the only serious candidate left for Kounde and it would come down to whether they could find the money to make a deal happen.
Yet that situation has changed. According to Fabrizio Romano, who was speaking to Caught Offside in his exclusive column, there may be fresh competition on the horizon.
“These will be important days for some major centre-back deals,” he said.”
“Bayern Munich will make a new proposal for Matthijs de Ligt, while Chelsea remain keen on Presnel Kimpembe. Gleison Bremer could join Inter Milan, possibly to replace Milan Skriniar, who is in talks with Paris Saint-Germain.”
“Meanwhile, Barcelona want to push for Sevilla’s Jules Kounde as soon as possible knowing that Chelsea have got back in contact with his agents.”
It confirms rumours that Chelsea have switched their attention after leaving negotiations for Nathan Ake. The Blaugrana may want to move quickly, but no doubt if Sevilla Sporting Director Monchi feels he can extract more money from Chelsea, he will slow the deal down.
Barcelona will know that Chelsea can probably offer more money to Sevilla and Kounde. It is unlikely that a similar situation to that of Raphinha plays out, which require a strong desire from Kounde to go to Barcelona rather than London.
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