Official: Barcelona announce the signing of Jules Kounde from Sevilla

The third of Barcelona’s transfer sagas has finally come to an end as they have officially announced the signing of Jules Kounde, in principle, from Sevilla on a five-year deal.

It is, officially, subject to the player passing the medical and the signing of contracts. The deal is said to be in the region of €50 million, plus a few million in the form of variables and add-ons.

Kounde’s official announcement has been delayed for a few days now, but the club took to social media today to drop the first hint by using the emoji of a blast and the emoji of a snake, in reference to the Frenchman’s celebration.

This comes immediately on the back of Kounde’s trip to Barcelona today, from Sevilla’s training camp in Portugal.

Kounde was reportedly very close to joining Chelsea for a fee upwards of €65 million, but Barcelona hijacked the transfer on Xavi’s wishes. Unsurprisingly, Gerard Romero was the first to report on this, saying the transfer was through 99% on Saturday morning.

Sources from Sevilla denied this, insisting that the player will, in fact, move to Chelsea. However, much like the Raphinha deal, Barça booted out the competition after everything was done.

The 23-year-old centre-back is Barcelona’s sixth signing for the summer after Pablo Torre (€5 million), Andreas Christensen (free), Franck Kessie (free), Raphinha (€58 million), and Robert Lewandowski (€45 million).

Much like the other players, he joined Barcelona after speaking to Xavi, who convinced him that his partnership with Ronald Araujo could be one to watch.

Kounde will not travel with the team to USA for the pre-season tour, and will instead stay back in the Catalan capital. The club’s plan is to present him on 1st August, while nursing his recent injury by making a completely different initial training plan.

The US tour ends in New York against New York Red Bulls on 31st July, but if things go according to plan, Kounde will make his unofficial Barcelona debut against Pumas UNAM in the Joan Gamper Trophy.

Over the last three seasons, Kounde made 95 appearances in the league, scoring five goals and giving three assists. More importantly, though, the 23-year-old has maintained an exceptionally high level of defensive prowess that will aid Barça for the better part of the next decade.