Barcelona exploring a player-plus-swap deal to sign French centre-back

Everything indicates Barcelona are set to face defeat in their pursuit of Kalidou Koulibaly. The Napoli defender had emerged as one of the top targets for Xavi in this ongoing summer transfer window, but it appears the Senegalese international is set for a move to Chelsea.

Barcelona, however, are pretty much alive in the race to sign their other defensive target in the form of Jules Kounde. The Frenchman has been on the radar of Barça for quite some time now, with Xavi desperate to get his hands on the young defender.

Sevilla have appeared quite intent on sanctioning the sale of Kounde as they are in desperate need of financial injection. The club have already offloaded Diego Carlos to Aston Villa earlier in the summer, and it appears Kounde, too, could follow the Brazilian through the exit door.

According to Alvaro Munoz Gomez, Barcelona have not ruled out the possibility of signing Kounde and are still open to including a player in the deal in an attempt to lower the cost of the operation.

Sevilla are believed to be keen on a figure of over €60 million for Kounde. The Frenchman is regarded as one of the most gifted young defenders in Europe and still has a two-year contract at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

As such, Los Nervionenses have no intention to offload their defensive prospect on a cut-price deal this summer. However, they could possibly entertain a player plus cash deal as they are also in need of serious reinforcements after the departure of a few star players.

Unfortunately, the options are running out fast for FC Barcelona. Clement Lenglet was mooted as a potential candidate in a player-plus cash deal, but the defender has since joined Tottenham Hotspur.

Barça have also opted to keep hold of Sergino Dest, though the Catalans could certainly entertain sacrificing Memphis Depay, and Riqui Puig, among many others.