The details
“Hello culés; I’m here. Força Barça”. Around 7:00 p.m., Jules Koundé (11-12-1998, Paris) greeted his new fans in Catalan. Barcelona and Seville had already officially announced the principle of agreement for his transfer in the absence of the medical review that the Frenchman will undergo this Thursday . Figures were not disclosed, although all sources point to a figure close to 60 million between fixed (50) and variable (10). The signing of Koundé , who left Sevilla’s camp in Lagos (Portugal) in the morning and flew to Barcelona, where he landed around 5:00 p.m., is the sixth for the Barça club this season in a historic summer in which, when there were no expectations, Joan Laporta has decided to risk everything on one card with the sale, for the time being, of 25% of the club’s audiovisual rights for the next 25 years, and has managed to incorporate Christensen, Kessié, Pablo Torre, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Koundé himself. If Barça fails to sell Frenkie de Jong as is their goal, Laporta has already ordered some more economic lever to be activated , be it the sale of 49% of the club’s merchandising (BLM), or of Barça Studios, so as not to have problems registering players. Koundé, who will undergo a medical today, will not travel to the United States to join the first team discipline . The proximity of the return discouraged it. Thus, it could be presented next Monday, four days before the massive premiere of Robert Lewandowski. The signing of Koundé, which Manchester City could not access last year, nor Chelsea this year, has generated a state of spectacular euphoria in a Barça that is going to be forced to do anything.
Dream fulfilled
Koundé will fulfill his dream of playing for Barça and the deal will be official in the next few hours. Koundé, 23, began his sports career at Bordeaux and arrived at Sevilla in 2019. There he has played three seasons in which he has added 134 games. He scored nine goals. His will to play for Barcelona has been decisive in the closing of the operation, because Sevilla and Chelsea reached an agreement in principle for his transfer, but Koundé decided to wait for the Barça club to activate its economic levers to make the decision . The Frenchman is Barcelona’s sixth signing this season after Christensen, Pablo Torre, Kessié, Raphinha and Lewandowski, but the club’s idea is to bring in two more players, Chelsea’s Spanish full-backs Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso. Koundé, whose signing has also generated an impact in France, where he is seen as a player who does not yet have the leadership of the greats but has the potential to be a leader in the future, will be a capital tactical wild card for Xavi, who can use him as a central defender and right back in the 4-3-3 scheme , but who can also be a disruptive factor as a center back in a 3-4-3 due to the Frenchman’s ability to push the team forward with his drives. Koundé was Xavi’s dream since he arrived last November. Already when the current Barça coach headed Víctor Font’s sports candidacy, he was thinking of Koundé to lead his defense.