Chelsea has lost to Barcelona in the race for Sevilla defender Jules Koundéwho has agreed to join the Catalan club in a deal worth around £42 million.
Chelsea last week thought they had won the battle for the France international, but Barcelona have acted decisively in recent days to secure the defender’s signature.
Kounde’s move to Barcelona, which is still contingent on passing the 23-year-old’s medical, marks the second time in this transfer window that Chelsea have been tipped off to a player by the Spanish club.
Chelsea also wanted to buy Raphinha from Leeds United and had struck a deal for the Brazilian winger before Barcelona collapsed earlier this summer.
Koundé’s loss to Barcelona will force Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel to consider other goals, such as Paris St-Germain defender Presnel Kimpebe. They have also been linked with a transfer for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana, who failed in their pursuit of Matthijs de Ligt and Nathan Ake.
As reported by Telegraph Sport last week, Chelsea thought they had beaten Barcelona’s competition for Koundé after agreeing to pay in the region of £55million for the defender.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta even appeared to admit defeat in the race after he was filmed telling a supporter that Koundé would sign for Chelsea.
That all changed in the following days, however, when Barcelona succeeded with a renewed bid to sign the player, despite their much publicized financial troubles.
Koundé’s imminent signing follows the acquisitions of Raphinha (in a deal worth up to £55million) and Robert Lewandowski, who signed for Barcelona from Bayern Munich for £43million.
Barcelona have also signed Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessié to free transfers from Chelsea and AC Milan respectively.
Tavares is loaned to Marseille
Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares is close to finalizing a loan to France’s Marseille after talks with Atalanta broke down.
Tavares was Kieran Tierney’s backup left-back last season but has fallen further down the pecking order following the takeover of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City.
Final details of the loan are now being finalized and Arsenal hope Tavares will follow in the footsteps of team-mate William Saliba, who thrived on loan at Marseille last season.