Chelsea, Sevilla talks ongoing but not close for Jules Koundé, may also involve Kurt Zouma — reports

Jules Koundé was sat in the stands as Sevilla took on Paris Saint-Germain last night, featuring not at all in their 2-2 friendly draw at the Estádio Algarve in Portugal, though that was probably more to do with his recent return from post-Euros vacation (like the rest of his France teammates, including N’Golo Kanté and Kurt Zouma) than any transfer rumors or the like.

Those transfer rumors were the talk of Chelsealand yesterday, but it may be a little while before we hear another meaningful update. Reports in Spain make it sound like an agreement between Chelsea and Sevilla is not close at the moment. Chelsea may have a five-year deal lined up with the 22-year-old, but Sevilla will want to get paid and get paid handsomely (say, €65m?) for a player who has an €80m release clause.

Multiple reports, including Fabrizio Romano’s latest non-update suggest that we could look to include Kurt Zouma as a make-weight to help lower the fee and clear space in the squad. Zouma had been linked with an exit earlier this summer, and while swap deals are very rare in football, Sevilla did just agree one with Tottenham Hotspur, having Erik Lamela (plus €25m) join them as Bryan Gil moved the other way.

And so, we wait.