‘Not enough for us’ – Sevilla holding firm on Chelsea target
Sevilla sporting director Monchi has revealed that Chelsea fell short in their recent bid for 22-year-old defender Jules Kounde.
The centre-back made 34 appearances in La Liga during the last campaign, helping Sevilla to finish fourth in the table.
His performances earned him a spot in Didier Deschamps’ Euro 2020 squad. He played once at the tournament before France were knocked out by Switzerland in the round of 16.
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Kounde has attracted attention from a number of Premier League sides, including Manchester United and Manchester City.
However, Chelsea are the only team to act on their interest by submitting a formal offer.
On the transfer saga, Monchi said: “The only written, formal offer from Chelsea came last Wednesday, around 5pm.
“We weren’t satisfied with the offer, and it was linked to Chelsea selling a player. It was a decent fee but it didn’t meet our criteria.
“We haven’t spoken with Chelsea since Friday night. We all decided that it was best Jules didn’t travel to Elche. It’s normal for players to be affected by news of any kind. Last year he had the interest from City and now Chelsea this year.
“Kounde’s clause never went up to €90million. It has always been €80m.”
The Blues are around €15m short of Sevilla’s valuation and will now have to wait until at least January to land him.
In the mean time, Kounde will help Sevilla to pursue their goal of once again qualifying for the Champions League.
They have been drawn in Group G for this year’s competition and will face Lille, Red Bull Salzburg and Wolfsburg.
Chelsea allowed Kurt Zouma to join West Ham for a reported £29.8m so they could bring Kounde in.
But the Spanish side rate him as one of their most valuable players, which was always likely to cause problems for a potential switch.
One Chelsea player whose future could be decided on transfer deadline day is young winger Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The Englishman is a rumoured target for Borussia Dortmund, as they look to bring in more firepower following the departure of Jadon Sancho.
But Chelsea have rejected the bid and could instead allow him to join a fellow Premier League side.
