Jules Kounde of Sevilla is anticipated to be signed by Barcelona, beating out Chelsea, who was allegedly close to making the move on Friday.
Both teams have been widely associated with the France international throughout the summer transfer window, but Chelsea has been linked with him the most. After spending the previous three seasons playing for Sevilla, Kounde is rumoured to have been open to joining either team.
On Friday, reports claimed that Chelsea and Sevilla had struck a deal on a £55 million cost, with personal terms not being a problem.
At the time, it was asserted that Barcelona had not made a formal offer because they had admitted they couldn’t compete with Chelsea’s offer.
Gerard Romero, a Spanish journalist, claims that Barcelona and Sevilla made progress on Saturday morning.
While a fee has not been made public, it is understood that it is comparable to what Chelsea has offered, possibly with some variances in the deal’s structure.
Romero adds that it is “99 percent” guaranteed that the 23-year-old will go to Camp Nou over the weekend, barring a last-minute hiccup.
If Kounde moves on to Barcelona, it will be the summer’s fifth high-profile addition, including Robert Lewandowski, Raphael, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, and Andreas Christensen.
Barcelona ahead of Chelsea in Kounde pursuit?
Despite their well-known financial problems, Xavi now has a sizeable transfer war chest because to the sale of a portion of future television rights.
Given that they also agreed on a price for Raphinha before he ultimately moved to Catalonia, Chelsea would be gazumped by Barcelona for the second time this summer.
At a time when he has expressed his desire to sign at least one more centre-back, head coach Thomas Tuchel would also miss out on another desired transfer target.
Although Antonio Rudiger has already been replaced by Kalidou Koulibaly, who was acquired from Napoli, Tuchel still needs a replacement for Christensen on the right side of his back three.
Presnel Kimpembe of Paris Saint-Germain may now be the target of Tuchel’s request that interim sporting director Todd Boehly make a strong effort to recruit him, but there have been rumours that the Frenchman wants to stay at Parc des Princes in the past.
For more Sports updates please follow us on Twitter.
