Chelsea have received a huge blow in their pursuit of Sevilla defender Jules Kounde after Barcelona agreed a £51 million deal to sign him this summer, according to reports.
The 23-year-old was on the verge of making the switch to Stamford Bridge last summer before Sevilla move the goalposts and Chelsea did not comply.
Thomas Tuchel's side were back in for him this summer, but opted to chase Matthijs de Ligt and Nathan Ake in the early weeks of the summer window. Both of those pursuits failed and they turned their attention back to Kounde.
Talks got underway with Sevilla and a £55 million offer was made with the Spanish side. No progress was made as talks remained ongoing and personal terms not being an issue after agreeing them with the player last summer.
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However, Barcelona have been keenly interested in the France international and reignited their interested when it looked like they had pulled out of the race.
Xavi, Barcelona's manager, has been speaking with Kounde to convince him of staying in Spain, while the Catalan giants work on a transfer proposal.
Now as reported by SPORT in Spain, they claim Barcelona have had a bid of £42.5 million plus £8.5 million in add-ons accepted by Sevilla.
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He is the club's number one target, and personal terms have already been agreed between Kounde and Barcelona.
Barcelona want to close a deal as soon as possible due to Chelsea hoping to increase their offer as Thomas Tuchel looks to win the race for the 23-year-old.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Barcelona received indications from Kounde's camp that he would be prepared to accept their terms following phone calls with Xavi
Kounde remains in Portugal with Sevilla for pre-season but is waiting on the green light to leave the club as they finalise his future.
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Prior to returning to London from their United States tour, Tuchel insisted there was no new update regarding their chase of Kounde.
"There is no update, no update," said Tuchel on Kounde after their 4-0 defeat to Arsenal.
"The analysing of the season does not change because of this game. Unfortunately, it proved my point and the last week proves my point.
"I would prefer to not be right and I did everything to prove myself wrong, but at the moment I feel I was right when I look at the last season and at the parts of the game where we struggled and how we struggled.
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"We got sanctioned and players left us, we know that some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is. We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players.
"We've got two quality players – that is no doubt – but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Jules Kounde, Barcelona, Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, Xavi, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, Transfers, Sevilla
