Frenchman Jules Koundé, 23, will become Barcelona’s sixth signing for next year, provided that the player passes a medical check-up as a step prior to signing the contracts.
The contract could be for the next four seasons and the transfer would amount to 50 million euros and a variable amount between five and ten million euros, although these extremes have not been officially confirmed.
With this investment, Barcelona exceeds 158 million euros in signings and becomes the club with the most purchasers in the European leagues, surpassing Bayern Munich (137.5 million) and Arsenal (132), according to data offered by the specialized portal ‘Transfermarkt’.
Thus Koundé is added to the hiring of Andreas Christensen (Chelsea) and Franck Kessié (Milan), who arrived with the letter of freedom, the Polish Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), the Brazilian Raphael Dias Belloli ‘Raphinha’, and the new Ousmane Dembele contract.
He also signed the young promise Pablo Torre, from Racing de Santander, who could have minutes with the first team, but initially he would be in dynamics of the subsidiary.
Koundé’s versatility has been decisive in Barcelona’s strong commitment. The center-back is fast, corrects, has a good ball output and can even act as a right-back, which is why coach Xavi Hernández considers that he was the necessary piece to shore up the defensive axis.
In fact, with the signing of Koundé, Barcelona has five high-level players in the position, which they will share with the Uruguayan Ronald Araújo, the Danish Christensen, as well as Gerard Piqué and Eric Garcia, since Samuel Umtiti does not count for Xavi and Clement Lenglet have gone to Tottenham.
The role of the Barça coach has been fundamental in the operation, since he personally called the central defender to explain what he expected from him and apparently in this way he deactivated the interest that the footballer could have in Chelsea.
Koundé, Parisian although of Beninese origin, began playing football in modest clubs in the Bordeaux area and it was not until he was 14 years old that he entered the dynamics of the Girondins, the benchmark team in the area.
At the age of 19, he made his debut with the first team and in a short time he established himself as a starter in the Bordeaux team and became one of the most promising central defenders in France. For all this, Sevilla noticed him and signed him in exchange for 25 million euros, a record figure in Seville.
In the absence of confirmation, the Frenchman would undergo the mandatory medical examination tomorrow and the possibility of being presented this coming Monday is being considered.
With Koundé the transfer chapter is not closed, waiting for the hiring of two lane players, positions to which the Spaniards from Chelsea César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso aspire as first options. EFE
