Chelsea have been linked with a rather large assortment of centre backs already this season, but one name that has been (surprisingly) missing has been Sevilla’s Jules Koundé — although that could have something to do with their valuation of him.
Regardless, that oversight has now been corrected as according to local newspaper, La Colina de Nervion, the Blues are indeed monitoring the progress and the situation around the 22-year-old, with a view towards a summer move.
La lista de equipos interesados en Jules Koundé
— La Colina de Nervión (@ColinaDeNervion) April 8, 2021
Informa: Adriano Parrilla Magagna#CompartimosAfición #SevillaFChttps://t.co/BRboOXpggV
Koundé is arguably the best young centre back that Chelsea could realistically hope to sign, and the report echoes a similar sentiment, claiming that he is on the radar of almost every big club in Europe, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich. The France U21 international has made 40 appearances this season, and the fact that Sevilla have conceded just 21 goals in 29 matches — second best defensive record in La Liga — is a testament to his abilities.
Given the amount of interest, Sevilla Director of Football, Monchi will certainly not make it easy for any of them, with the club apparently looking to break by quite some margin their outgoing transfer record, which is currently held by the €40m departure of Wissam Ben Yedder. Manchester City had already failed with a €55m bid last summer, with Sevilla pointing to his €80m release clause instead. (So City ended up getting Ruben Dias from SL Benfica instead.)
Koundé’s current contract runs through 2024, and he’s often ranked among the likes of Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappé as elite-level signings. Koundé would no doubt significantly upgrade our defense for the next decade or so. The only question lies in whether we’re willing to meet the asking price.