‘He’s happy to move’: Duncan Castles says 22-year-old is keen on Chelsea FC move
Jules Kounde is keen on a move to Chelsea FC from Sevilla this summer, according to Duncan Castles
Jules Kounde is keen on a move to Chelsea FC this summer but the Blues are yet to agree a deal with Sevilla, according to Duncan Castles.
The south west London side have been credited with an interest in signing the 22-year-old French defender this summer as they look to strengthen their options at the back ahead of next season.
Kounde scored two goals and made one assist in 34 La Liga games for Sevilla last season and he also made one appearance for France at Euro 2020.
According to Castles, Kounde would be open to joining Chelsea FC this summer and agreeing personal terms is not likely to be a problem, but the Blues still have to negotiate a fee with Sevilla and they could be open to including a player such as Kurt Zouma in the agreement.
Speaking on the Transfer Window Podcast last week, Castles said: “As we said on Tuesday, the personal terms have been agreed between Kounde and Chelsea.
“He’s happy to move to Chelsea. We’ve been saying for a while his preference would be Real Madrid but Real Madrid have not entered or made a bid for the player.
“Sevilla want to sell but only at the right level. A straight cash deal will be difficult and Chelsea have been offering players in addition to cash to Sevilla.
“One of the players they’ve offered is Kurt Zouma. Usually, when you do these part-exchange deals, they’re more complicated because you have to get the player [Zouma] on board and that is going to be a question here.
“The noises coming from around Zouma is that he would prefer to stay in England and in London.
“At present, the brief from his camp is that West Ham would be more interesting to him than Sevilla.
“From the club side, the guidance I have is that it actually suits Sevilla to get a defender in in part-exchange for Kounde as opposed to cash.
“It’s because of the La Liga spending limitations that are hitting every club at present… If Chelsea can provide Sevilla with the right player, and I’m told Kurt Zouma is a player they’d be interested in taking, who will fit straight into the team and be a replacement in the squad, it helps Sevilla in terms of making and accessing La Liga spend limits.
“I’m told Chelsea have an advantage if they can get a player like Zouma or one of their other defenders that Sevilla might be interested in to move there because in this particular case because a cash-plus-player deal is more attractive than a straight cash offer.”
Kounde scored three goals and made one assist in all competitions for club and country last season.
Chelsea FC, who finished in fourth place in the Premier League table last term, will kick off their top-flight campaign with a home clash against Crystal Palace on 14 August.
