Chelsea are in advanced negotiations with Sevilla for Jules Kounde, and have highlighted him as their primary target for the summer.
The player has an €80 million release clause in his contract and Chelsea are trying to bring the price demanded lower than that figure. One of the ways of the Blues going about this is including Kurt Zouma in the negotiations for Kounde.
The Chelsea man is appreciated by Sevilla, and the Blues could convince the Spanish club to agree to a swap deal involving the two French centre-backs. Personal terms are not an issue for the player, since he wants to play for Chelsea in England, and has agreed on a multi-year deal with the London club in principle.
Zouma, on the other hand, has not been favoured by Thomas Tuchel since he arrived at the club following the dismissal of Frank Lampard. The German has stuck to a back three, and Zouma has been left out of the three-man backline for the majority of his tenure.
Hence, offloading the player could be the best decision in the situation since it would give him a change of pace as well. Should Sevilla agree to having Zouma go the other way, it could significantly bring down the transfer fees. The 22-year-old is highly valued, and is one of the most exciting young talents in the world. His market value is €60 million, and he is a signing that could make Chelsea genuine title contenders this upcoming season.
