Chelsea in direct contact with Sevilla for Kounde

Chelsea are now in direct contact with Sevilla for their star centre-back Jules Kounde. The London club are preparing an official bid for the player, according to Fabrizio Romano. 

Sevilla won’t sell the defender in the final days of the transfer window, and the timing of the bid will be key from the European Champions. There is a little over a week remaining in the window, and the Blues will have to go all in as soon as they can if they are serious about signing the player. 

Real Madrid are also interested in Kounde, but seem to be saving all their funds to bring over Kylian Mbappe from PSG. They have four first-team central defenders with David Alaba, Nacho Fernandez, Eder Militao and Jesus Vallejo. So, in keeping with their recent trend in the window, they might not launch a bid. 

At 22, Kounde is one of the most highly rated young defenders in the continent and won the Europa League with them in 2020. He joined the club from Bordeaux in 2019 for €25 million, and is now valued at €60 million on Transfermarkt. 

The Blues have raised a significant amount of funds in the transfer window by selling Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham, Olivier Giroud and sanctioning several loan deals. Kurt Zouma could still leave the club with West Ham interested in signing him. 

Davide Zappacosta will leave the club on a permanent transfer, joining Atalanta on a five-year deal. Elsewhere, Ike Ugbo is all set to join Genk on a £5 million free transfer while Tiemoue Bakayoko will go out on a loan deal to AC Milan.