Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde reportedly wants to depart the club at any cost, and this might come as positive news for both Manchester United and Chelsea, who were monitoring his progress for several months now.
According to Marca, the France international has had enough and is hell-bent on leaving the club in the upcoming summer transfer window. Kounde had attracted strong interest from Chelsea last summer but saw deals collapsing with the La Liga club unwilling to relent on their position.
The 23-year-old has been one of Julen Lopetegui’s brightest players over the last few years. He has been integral to their secure backline, which is one of the reasons why they find themselves in the joint second place of the LaLiga table along with Barcelona. With five games left before the end of the season, Sevilla are almost sure of qualifying for Champions League football next season.
Kounde was constantly linked with Chelsea in recent transfer windows but saw the deal collapsing in the last momentum. Frustrated by it, he hasn’t let that affect his performances this season and thanks to the incredible season he has been having, he has also appeared on Manchester United’s radar as incoming manager Erik ten Hag likes him a lot.
The Red Devils have been incredibly poor in defence, with club captain Harry Maguire and summer signing Raphael Varane doing little to allay those concerns. Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly have also not been able to offer much from the bench, and United have been caught on vulnerable occasions several times this season.
The upcoming summer transfer window provides the perfect opportunity to secure the services of the Frenchman. He had been left ‘tremendously angry’ over the club not letting him leave for Stamford Bridge last summer. He has also made up his mind and is ‘determined to quit’ Sevilla.
Despite his fantastic and consistent streak of performances on the pitch, Kounde has also been ignored by the club when it comes to rewards. He feels that his importance in the squad is not reflected in his salary, and while the La Liga club have offered Diego Carlos and Marcos Acuna new contracts, they are yet to show more respect and interest in Kounde.
Chelsea may perhaps reignite their interest in the player after having nearly secured his signing last summer, and they might face stiff competition from United in that race. At the moment, the Blues are unable to conduct any transfer business or even negotiations with their own players due to the sanctions imposed on club owner Roman Abramovich.
The situation is expected to be the same until the bidding process is completed and the new owners formally constitute the board of directors. This hesitancy, as well as the delay, has been one of the prime reasons behind defender Antonio Rudiger making up his mind that he wants to move away from the Stamford Bridge as a free agent this summer.
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