Barcelona could sign highly-wanted centre-back for just €40 million

With Ousmane Dembele set to re-sign on a two-year deal and Raphinha on the verge of joining, Barcelona’s summer transfer window is starting to shape up very nicely.

The Blaugrana have already closed the signings of Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen. And the focus will now shift to acquiring the services of priority attacking target Robert Lewandowski and top defensive target Jules Kounde.

The French ace has been high on the wishlist of manager Xavi Hernandez, who is intent on bolstering his defence further despite the addition of Christensen. However, Sevilla’s €60 million price tag has been a major roadblock for the club.

Los Nervionenses have so far been reluctant to lower their demands while Barça’s attempts to offer a player in exchange have also not yielded desired results. However, that could be set to change in the coming days.

According to journalist Gerard Romero, Sevilla could be open to accepting a player-plus-cash arrangement for Kounde, which would see Barcelona sign the French international for a fee in the range of €35-40 million.

The update from Romero adds that Memphis Depay could be the player who is used as the makeweight in the deal to land the 23-year-old defender this summer.

Depay is in the final year of his contract at Camp Nou. The 28-year-old is likely to fall down the pecking order of things under Xavi with the imminent arrivals of Raphinha and Dembele, and the potential signing of Lewandowski from Bayern.

So, the Netherlands ace has seemingly been deemed surplus to requirements by the Barça management despite him finishing his debut season at the club as the joint top-scorer with 13 goals.

And, as things stand, there is a good chance that Depay will be involved in the deal to sign Kounde from Sevilla, which would lower his price tag to around €35-40 million.