Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Jules Kounde from Sevilla after hijacking Chelsea’s move for the centre-back and the Frenchman has stated the reason for him joining the Catalan club.
The two clubs battled it out for the 23-year-old’s signature over the last few weeks and it looked at one stage that the centre-back would be on his way to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea agreed a £55m deal with Sevilla for the French defender, as reported by the Daily Mail, but Barca arrived and turned the player’s head – similar to the Raphinha case.
Barcelona then had a lower fee of £41.85m accepted for Kounde, as reported by the BBC, which all but confirmed the completion of the Chelsea hijack.
Kounde is already one of the best defenders in the world and it will come as a major disappointment to Chelsea to miss out on the 23-year-old as the sky is the limit for the French international.
The French man has since revealed the reason for choosing Barcelona over Chelsea and stated that Barca coach Xavi Hernández is the man who changed the deal.
The centre-back said via Fabrizio Romano: “Xavi is a big reason as to why I’m here. His spiel convinced me, I’m excited to start working with the team”
“It’s clear that we see football in the same way”.
Koundé confirms Xavi Hernández is the man who changed the deal: “Xavi is a big reason as to why I’m here. His spiel convinced me, I’m excited to start working with the team”. ?? #FCB
“It’s clear that we see football in the same way”.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 28, 2022
