{"id":613890,"date":"2022-06-20T07:39:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T11:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=613890"},"modified":"2022-06-20T07:39:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T11:39:45","slug":"chelsea-work-jules-kounde-transfer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/06\/20\/chelsea-work-jules-kounde-transfer\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea Still Have \u2018Work to Do\u2019 in Deal for 23-Year-Old Defender"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/football\/category\/premier-league\/Chelsea\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Chelsea<\/a> still have &#8220;work to do&#8221; in the transfer of Jules Kound\u00e9 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AbsoluteChelsea\/status\/1538574451972968448\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to Nizaar Kinsella<\/a>, Chelsea correspondent at Goal.<\/p>\n<p>The French international is one of the Blues&#8217; primary targets this window following more than 12 months of interest and a <a href=\"\/football\/2021\/07\/27\/chelsea-jules-kounde\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">transfer that failed to materialise last summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Jules Kound\u00e9 Open to Move but Chelsea Need to Strike Deal With Sevilla<\/h2>\n<h3>What&#8217;s Holding Up the Transfer?<\/h3>\n<p>There are a number of factors slowing down Kound\u00e9&#8217;s\u00a0move to London.<\/p>\n<p>Last summer, <a href=\"\/football\/2021\/08\/31\/jules-kounde-deal-to-join-chelsea-is-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Sevilla reportedly held firm<\/a> in their valuation of the player as Chelsea didn&#8217;t match the \u00a356 million offer that was required.<\/p>\n<p>The transfer fee may also be a stumbling block this season, as it was last. Sevilla know the value of the 23-year-old but Chelsea director and chief negotiator Marina Granovskaia will test their resolve to help maximise <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/05\/25\/thomas-tuchel-todd-boehly-chelsea-era-begins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Todd Boehly&#8217;s<\/a> first war chest.<\/p>\n<p>Kound\u00e9 also struggled with a groin injury for the majority of last season. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/chelsea-fc\/news\/sevilla-jules-kounde-chelsea-target-24220812\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">underwent minor surgery<\/a> to treat this ongoing issue earlier this month. Chelsea were aware of the situation but may be waiting to see how the player reacts to the procedure before taking decisive action.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jules Kound\u00e9 committed only 15 fouls in La Liga last season, with an 80% success rate in his tackles.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@sport<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Cb0qjP6t1n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Cb0qjP6t1n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bar\u00e7a Universal (@BarcaUniversal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BarcaUniversal\/status\/1538181015797104640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 18, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Personal Terms Agreed With Jules Kound\u00e9 Since Last Summer<\/h3>\n<p>Personal terms have never been an issue in Kound\u00e9&#8217;s\u00a0transfer to Chelsea &#8211; there was reportedly an <a href=\"\/football\/2021\/07\/27\/chelsea-jules-kounde\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">agreement in place for a five-year contract last summer<\/a>, and the same is true now.<\/p>\n<p>Kound\u00e9 is very interested in making the move to West London and <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/06\/17\/jules-kounde-transfer-decision-chelsea\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">dismissed interest from Barcelona<\/a> in favour of linking up with Thomas Tuchel.<\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/05\/10\/antonio-rudiger-joins-real-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Antonio Rudiger<\/a> and <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/05\/16\/thomas-tuchel-andreas-christensen-exit\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Andreas Christensen<\/a> already leaving the Blues this season, and <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/02\/18\/barcelona-offer-chelsea-defender-cesar-azpilicueta\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Cesar Azpilicueta<\/a> reportedly eyeing a return to Spain, there&#8217;s a definite need for defensive reinforcements at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n<p>Kound\u00e9 is one of the hottest defensive prospects in European football, so getting this deal over the line will go a long way to bolstering Chelsea&#8217;s back line for the coming season.<\/p>\n<h3>What Other Business Will Chelsea Do This Summer?<\/h3>\n<p>Despite their new owners providing substantial financial backing in this window, Chelsea have been relatively quiet in the transfer market so far.<\/p>\n<p>The rumours suggest that the Blues have been <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/06\/19\/chelsea-working-hard-on-transfers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">focused on resolving ongoing contract discussions<\/a> and making decisions about the futures of their existing players.<\/p>\n<p>Tuchel is also assessing his options from the current crop at the club ahead of the new season, with some of their on-loan talents like <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/05\/29\/conor-gallagher-chelsea-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Conor Gallagher<\/a> and <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/06\/18\/chelsea-romelu-lukaku-armando-broja\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Armando Broja<\/a> making real cases for a chance in the first team based on recent performances.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of arrivals, Chelsea have been heavily linked with <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/06\/19\/chelsea-raheem-sterling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Raheem Sterling<\/a> and Chicago Fire goalkeeper <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/06\/15\/chelsea-official-bid-for-goalkeeper-prospect\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Gabriel Slolina<\/a> recently, which are the most widely-reported potential incomings along with Kound\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>There also have been links to <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/06\/14\/barcelona-target-brazilian-striker-chelsea-arsenal\/\" target=\"_self\">Gabriel Jesus<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"\/football\/2022\/06\/14\/chelsea-are-closing-in-on-winger\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Ousmane Dembele<\/a> throughout the summer so far but these seem to only be interest at the moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea still have &#8220;work to do&#8221; in the transfer of Jules Kound\u00e9 according to Nizaar Kinsella, Chelsea correspondent at Goal. The French international is one of the Blues&#8217; primary targets this window following more than 12 months of interest and a transfer that failed to materialise last summer. Jules Kound\u00e9 Open to Move but Chelsea [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4215,"featured_media":613916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,11,6,3,7188],"tags":[6667],"class_list":["post-613890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transfers","category-chelsea","category-la-liga","category-premier-league","category-rumours","tag-jules-kounde"],"modified_by":"Nat Goodlad, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4215"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}