Chelsea retain ‘interest’ in Jules Koundé; late bid incoming? — reports

Chelsea’s pursuit of Jules Koundé has cooled significantly in the last few weeks, thanks in part to Trevoh Chalobah’s emergence but also in part to Kurt Zouma’s situation, however we’re reportedly still “interested” in the highly rated Sevilla center back.

According to various outlets last week, such as ABC Sevilla (via Sport Witness), Goal, Estadio Deportivo, Diario AS and the Telegraph, we’ll make one last attempt at the 22-year-old whom Sevilla value at €65-70m, though they will surely be increasingly reluctant to do business this late into the window. And with no desperate need to raise money anymore, they’re also expected to stand firm on their asking price, just as they did last summer when they rejected Manchester City’s advances, with many thus expecting Koundé to again stay.

The recent reports that Chelsea have struck a verbal agreement with West Ham for the transfer of Kurt Zouma will no doubt increase the likelihood of us making a concrete bid for Koundé, but until that happens, this remains firmly in the realm of speculation.

While Malang Sarr also looks set to depart — Everton and Eintracht Frankfurt joining Bologna with loan interest — it’s Zouma’s future that needs to be settled first and foremost.