Chelsea boss has confirmed did indeed tried and failed with a move to bring Jules Kounde to the club. The Frenchman was supposedly on his way to Stamford Bridge until Sevilla changed the terms of the deal at the eleventh hour.
The German tactician claimed that the club tried to sign both Kounde and Saul Niguez in the final days of the window but could only get one over the line. Nonetheless, Tuchel claims that the addition of the Spaniard on his own was important, as he is expected to help share the workload with the other three central midfield players.
“It was clear we tried for Kounde and Saul and it was very, very late but it was a very, very smooth transfer window because I had full concentration on training and on my team,”
“The amount of support of Petr Cech as a link, and together with Marina [Granovskaia], was fantastic, so it was pretty relaxed with a good outcome because, in the end, it was possible to add Saul into the group, which was a key position for us to have more alternatives and to not put all the pressure on the three guys’ shoulders.”
he said (Goal.com).
Chelsea’s attempts to sign Kounde were sidelined initially after the club decided to focus on completing the transfer of Romelu Lukaku.
The move to bring Kounde to Stamford Bridge was then further derailed due to a delay in Kurt Zouma’s proposed move to West Ham United. By the time the Frenchman signed for the Hammers, the La Liga side had increased their asking price for Kounde.
Nevertheless, Chelsea did manage to get Saul’s transfer over the line in the final minutes of the transfer window. The versatile midfielder joined the club on a one-year loan deal from Atletico Madrid, with the option to make his transfer permanent at the end of the season. He is expected to be the fourth-choice midfielder initially, behind Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.
