Rumour Has It: Chelsea pivot to Jules Kounde after Nathan Ake deal falls through

An
agreement
had
been
taking
shape
to
bring
27-year-old
Ake
back
to
Stamford
Bridge
–
where
he
began
his
Premier
League
career
–
before
City
decided
to
retain
the
services
of
the
Netherlands
international.

Instead,
23-year-old
Kounde
is
now
in
Chelsea’s
sights,
likely
as
a
long-term
solution
after
also
securing
31-year-old
centre-back
Kalidou
Koulibaly
from
Napoli
for
a
fee
reportedly
just
shy
of
£34million.

TOP
STORY
–
CHELSEA
ENTER
THE
KOUNDE
RACE

Kounde
has
already
racked
up
150
games
of
top
league
experience
between
his
time
with
Bordeaux
in
Ligue
1
and
Sevilla
in
LaLiga,
and
is
expected
to
cost
in
the
range
of
£56million,
according
to
ESPN.

The
France
international,
with
11
senior
caps
for
his
country,
also
has
an
impeccable
injury
history,
tallying
184
appearances
in
all
club
competitions
in
just
the
past
four
seasons,
with
no
significant
injuries.

Chelsea
will
be
mainly
competing
against
Barcelona,
with
the
Spanish
giants
reportedly
already
agreeing
to
personal
terms
with
Kounde,
and
reports
claim
they
are
willing
to
exchange
Memphis
Depay
or
Sergino
Dest
to
get
a
deal
done.

Barcelona
may
be
unable
to
afford
the
move
unless
Sevilla
are
willing
to
take
back
a
player,
as
their
£65m
deal
for
Raphinha
and
their
chase
of
Robert
Lewandowski
could
restrict
their
financial
flexibility

ROUND-UP

–

Aston
Villa
have
placed
a
£20million
price
tag
on
18-year-old
midfielder

Carney
Chukwuemeka
to
try
to
fend
off
interest
from
Manchester
United,
Manchester
City
and
Newcastle
United,
according
to
Talksport.

–
The
Athletic
is
reporting
that
29-year-old

Jesse
Lingard
is
considering
a
highly
paid
move
to

Saudi
Arabia.

–
According
to
Fabrizio
Romano,

Arsenal
are
set
to
agree
to
personal
terms
with
Manchester
City’s

Oleksandr
Zinchenko.

–
Sky
Sport
in
Germany
claims

Bayern
Munich
are
close
to
securing
Juventus
centre-back

Matthijs
de
Ligt
for
around
€80million.

–
The
Independent
is
reporting
that

William
Saliba
will
try
to
push
his
way
out
of
Arsenal
if
he
is
not
guaranteed
a
place
in
Mikel
Arteta’s
starting
line-up,
with

Marseille
and

Atletico
Madrid
named
as
interested
parties.