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There’s no shortage of drama in these final few days of the transfer window — Manchester United did what again? — but as far as we’re concerned, the big story to watch is that of Jules Koundé.
The 22-year-old highly rated, highly promising, and appropriately high-priced defender has been linked steadily with the Blues, but we’ve spent that last month or so waiting for the final push, which is still yet to happen.
On our end, things have no doubt been held up by Kurt Zouma’s transfer to West Ham which is now almost done, but Spanish media continue to maintain that there is no agreement between Chelsea and Sevilla over Koundé just yet either, with Sevilla president José Castro repeatedly denying any rumors about an actual Chelsea bid as well. While reports claim that we have some sort of agreement in place starting at around €50-55m (plus bonuses), we won’t really know if that’s true until the wheels start turning once again.
Mientras la plantilla del #SevillaFC se montaba en el avión para #Elche, Jules Koundé partía hacia París en su vuelo privado para cerrar su traspaso por el #Chelsea. Tal vez lo haga en terreno neutro o los Ingleses le ponen en Francia un avión directo para Londres. #Fichajes
— Javisfc.com (@blogjavisfc) August 27, 2021
That said, those wheels may be ready to turn now. Koundé has not traveled with Sevilla for their match with Elche tomorrow (and may have traveled to Paris instead, en route to London?), and while local media are painting this as a shock refusal on his part — i.e. the club trying to make him look like the bad guy probably — Sevilla head coach Julen Lopetegui already hinted at this situation in his press conference, implying that Koundé’s commitment is elsewhere than fully on the game.
“Jules [Koundé] arrived here when he was just a child and now he’s a French international, who is highly sought after. I don’t know what will happen because it depends on the club. If he leaves, we will only have two centre-backs which is quite concerning.
“We have faith in Monchi, but time is against us and these things are not straight-forward. At the moment, all our focus is on Elche tomorrow and the players need to be switched on throughout the game.”
-Julen Lopetegui; source: Sevilla FC
Sevilla have maintained all along that they would consider “interesting” offers for Koundé. The question is, just how interesting things will get in the final days of this window.
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