At this moment in time, it seems that Jules Kounde is well on his way to joining Barcelona in the coming days. Of course, football fans have learned that situations can be flipped on their head rather easily, especially when Chelsea and the Blaugrana are involved. Nevertheless, this is just another disappointing stop on a treacherous, depressing journey that is shaping up to be the 2022/23 season for the Blues. Kounde—who has been one step away from joining Chelsea for over a year—is set to become the second player that Barcelona has snatched out of the reigning Club World Cup Champion’s hands this summer.
The Blues now continue to scramble for centerback help as the team with no money laughs all the way to the bank. It’s an infuriating saga that’s hard to watch helplessly from the sidelines. Chelsea has done a lot right over the last few months during the club’s transition, but both regimes (old and new) have fumbled the bag with this particular transfer. When the Blues take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror before the upcoming campaign, they will only have themselves to blame for this mess involving the signing of Kounde.
Chelsea only has itself to blame for mess in the Jules Kounde transfer saga
It goes without saying that the government sanctions and subsequent ownership situation set Chelsea back quite a bit. However, the incompetence around the handling of Kounde has been astounding on more levels than one. Kounde has been said to be a priority for the Blues for the last 12 months. It was reported on that both Thomas Tuchel and the Chelsea hierarchy loved the defender. When it came time to put their money where their mouth is though, the Blues were found courting other potential centerback candidates.
First it was Matthijs de Ligt, followed by Nathan Ake and Kalidou Koulibaly. Chelsea also explored the signings of players such as Josko Gvardiol and Presnel Kimpembe. Meanwhile, Kounde was sitting pretty in Seville just waiting to pick up the phone when the Blues came calling. The problem is that they didn’t … until they did.
Chelsea didn’t revive its interest in the French international until mid-July after it’d already missed out on other targets—one helluva way to make a player feel as though he is wanted by a club. The Blues gave Barcelona enough time to activate yet another economic lever (the term of the summer) and make a run at Kounde itself. Xavi has reportedly been calling Kounde almost every day to convince him to move to Catalonia, whereas Chelsea has done all of its business through Sevilla, having agreed to personal terms with the player last summer. It’s not hard now to understand why Kounde feels as if the Blaugrana want him more.
When Barcelona inevitably signs the 23-year-old, fans of the Blues will be crying foul, complaining about the unethical spending tactics from the Spanish giants. There’s no doubting the fact that UEFA and possibly FIFA should have stepped in a long time ago to investigate these shady economic dealings, but that point is moot. Chelsea only has itself to blame if Kounde chooses to play elsewhere because it has shown a serious lack of understanding on how to do business during this entire transfer saga.
This show has been and will continue to be compared to the Raphinha deal. But it’s nothing like the battle for the Brazilian’s signature. The Blues did everything in their power to sign Raphinha, they just lost out to a team that the former Leeds United star has always dreamed of joining. Here, if Chelsea had simply treated Kounde with a little more respect, he likely could’ve joined them on their United States preseason tour. Instead, the Blues showed little regard for his decision and he’s set to make them pay.
What do you make of the entire Kounde situation? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!