Chelsea have been handed a fresh boost in their pursuit of defender Jules Kounde after Sevilla lowered their asking price, according to re...
Chelsea have been handed a fresh boost in their pursuit of defender Jules Kounde after Sevilla lowered their asking price, according to reports. The 23-year-old has been the subject of interest from the European champions since the summer when Thomas Tuchel's side try to acquire him.
But Chelsea left it too late in the window and Sevilla remained firm on their €80 million asking price. It was pay the release clause in full or he stays in Spain. He stayed in Spain.
"It was clear we tried for Kounde," said Tuchel in September after the summer transfer window slammed shut. It hasn't cooled Chelsea's interest though. Tuchel remains a 'huge admirer' of the Frenchman, who is claimed to have already agreed the framework of a four or five-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Kounde is keen on a switch to the English capital and ESPN claim Chelsea's hopes of finally bringing Kounde to London have increased. Sevilla are willing to lower their asking price and are ready to negotiate off €50-60 million for the France international.
This is a welcome boost for Chelsea considering they have four defenders - Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva - out of contract at the end of the season and all are yet to agree extensions.
Should Chelsea fail to land Kounde, LOSC Lille's Sven Botman and Maxence Lacroix of Wolfsburg are on their defensive transfer target list. Tuchel admitted last month that Chelsea could reconsider a move for the Frenchman in January despite the emergence of Trevoh Chalobah.
"I think every transfer period you need to evaluate again. You cannot say what we wanted in the summer, we do in the winter. And what we want to do in winter, we want to do the next summer. It is not like this. "Your opinion changes, players change, you have evolvement in the group, you have an atmosphere that you build, you see who is absolutely reliable and these connections build up and create something special hopefully in the group.
"So you cannot say what we tried in the summer did not happen so we will try again for sure in the winter. Sometimes it is like this. If we see the same need, but clearly, Trevoh is now here with us and he deserves to be here with us. It had nothing to do with if we can sign another central defender or not. But he stepped up.
"The responsibility was even more on his shoulders and he can handle it so far in a very impressive way. This is the situation and it has an effect on our next decisions in the next transfer period. It is always like this."
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