Chelsea remain on track to sign Jules Koundé despite surgery — reports

Chelsea have been on track to signing Jules Koundé for two summers now so one imagines we’re getting close to the finish line, though no one really knows how many laps and how many hurdles are in this steeplechase.

The latest obstacle is the “minor” surgery required by the defender, as if there is such a thing as a minor cutting open of a human body. I suppose it’s all relative, but it’s not like he’s slapping on a Band-Aid for a paper cut.

Conflicting reports about the nature of the surgery isn’t helping the situation either. Initially it was reported as a hamstring issue. Now it may be “a fairly common pelvis issue”, as per the Athletic? That sounds more like a hernia to me, which would also fit the expected four-week recovery.

Either way, all reports still point to Chelsea signing the 23-year-old at some point in our cosmic existence, perhaps fairly soon, even. We were supposedly aware of this long-term issue already, just as we are presumably aware of Sevilla’s reported €65m demands.