As usually happens during the presentation ceremony of a club to its new signing, the most interesting thing said when Barcelona paraded jules konde at his training camp on Monday was not spoken by the player. Instead, it was said about him.
It came as Mateu Alemany, Barcelona’s new director of football and the “doer” guy who ensures the club’s relationships are now strong, smart and strategic, insisted on returning to the question of why the €55m defender didn’t I was. He is already a Chelsea player. Alemany emphasized that several times he had told Kounde (through his agent Jonathan Kebe) that “…if you want to get things resolved quickly, then take one of those other great offers you have, but stop calling me because I ‘ I do not have any news…”
The Barça representative underlined how brutally complicated it has been for the club to negotiate economic “levers” with Calle Sexta and Socios.com, worth several hundred million euros, which have left the club liquid and hungry to spend. He looked up at the massive rows of media to find Kede, who was sitting there with a few members of Kounde’s family, and asked, “What was it, Jonathan? Did you call me every day, or just every other day, during the months?” last two months?
Alemany made it abundantly clear that Kounde had chosen Barcelona as his destination over two months ago and despite weeks without the club being able to give him any hope or encouragement, the 23-year-old had stubbornly resisted Chelsea and waited patiently for the light. green of Camp Nou. Under normal circumstances, a French international like Kounde would already be a pillar of Chelsea’s rebuilding after the departure of Roman Abramovich. But he wanted to stay in LaLiga, he wanted to sign for Barcelona and, above all, he wanted to play for Xavi.
At Koundé, the Catalan coach has signed a highly talented defender who: knows LaLiga inside out; It fits perfectly into the game philosophy of his new club; he can play in some positions depending on the formation; has broken the trend of young and excellent LaLiga footballers who have not been able to resist the call of the Premier League, and whose agent has just closed a fabulous €80m deal to take Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid.
It is a victory for the club and the coach, but also for LaLiga. No success for another Premier League predator this time.
I have met and interviewed Kounde several times, and he is quite the character. For example, he may not be a global expression, but in the UK we grew up with ‘tough’ footballers who described themselves as ‘he would slide in front of his grandmother if it helped his team win’ .
Take a step forward, Koundé… well, almost. He previously admitted to Onze Mundial in his native France: “My mother had to put up with a lot when I went through a difficult stage as a child. My local team was a bit of a disaster, we lost a lot, and I couldn’t tolerate that. It drove me crazy and after a bad game, it was a nightmare at home. I was in a bad mood all weekend – appalling behavior. I went into such a rage that I ended up kicking my poor mother
“Eventually she sought professional advice and the doctor told her ‘do it to him. If he kicks you, kick him. He’ll calm down soon!’ That period didn’t last long, but it wasn’t good at the time.”
These days, Kounde is far from a hothead. He notes that, despite being a fast, aggressive, “see the ball, win the ball” player, he has been booked just 26 times in 227 club and international matches. Few lunges and almost no dissent; his errors in judgment are rare. That’s a truly remarkable statistic. However, Barcelona fans will remember that one of his two red cards in Spain was for throwing the ball to Jordi Alba during a heated and very physical 1-1 draw in Seville, when the left-back elbowed him twice in a row.
It’s a “score” that should now sort quickly. Alba loves a brave competitor… as long as they wear the same color jersey as him.
Kounde’s other red card? When Espanyol’s Javi Puado pushed and pulled him four times over 15 meters and Kounde tried to push him. It was a terribly smooth expulsion, but each time he showed a tiny remnant of the boy who used to kick his mom’s shins.
The defender finally decided that enough was enough at Sevilla back in April when The Rojiblancos, 2-0 up at half-time against eventual champions Madrid, collapsed in an ultra-dramatic 3-2 loss in added time. Kounde lambasted his team for having “thrown a good first half in the bin” and criticized Sevilla’s “lack of character and personality” in the second half. Harsh words, even if accurate, but career-changing. It was time to go.
This is a guy who is normally cool, funny, curious about life, multilingual, and absolutely obsessed with music in part thanks to the father he barely knew being a talented drummer. “My mom bought me a little drum kit that was…how to say…more of a toy. I remember spending a lot of time with it. It drove my mom a little crazy because it was so loud and I was constantly playing it. I think this year , or next time, I’ll start taking piano lessons because my mom played the piano and it’s a classy instrument.”
Don’t be fooled by Kounde, though: he’s cultured, but tough, especially if you spot below-average standards or attitudes. It’s a trait that hammered him. He previously explained where this demand came from: “Join Bordeaux [Kounde’s first senior club] It was hard at first: being shy and withdrawn didn’t help. My coach, Jean-Luc Dogon, worked very hard to open me up and bring more aggressiveness to my game. I’m really grateful to you”.
Several Bordeaux coaches forged the guy that Barcelona just brought. “Jocelyn Gourvennec was a tough man,” Kounde said. “I could miss one pass while a teammate would miss two or three, but Gourvennec would come at me like a ton of bricks and let the other guy go. It felt very unfair at the time, but he definitely left me with a strong ethic. of work plus the determination to never take our foot off the accelerator.
He was working for LaLiga TV with Chelsea, Uruguay and Real Zaragoza legend Gustavo Poyet, himself a former Bordeaux manager, the day Sevilla signed Kounde. Off camera, Gus told me right away, “A fantastic kid, he loves to venture out on the pitch, but as long as he continues his attitude and his willingness to defend and attack, he will become a fabulous player.” .” He was correct.
Kounde remembers that spell: “Gustavo really believed in me and gave me great confidence in my own abilities. He wanted us to love everything about football, take risks, play creatively and enjoy being part of a group. Perhaps the best coach I’ve ever met. Dyed!”
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What follows for Kounde is a period of experimentation and, in a sense, survival of the fittest. In his recent games, the 23-year-old has not been an automatic choice for Didier Deschamps’ brilliant France team, at least not when the blues play four in the back. But last year, playing 90 minutes in the Nations League semi-final victory over Belgium and final victory over Spain in a three-man backline, Kounde was Deschamps’ first choice.
Xavi, in theory, now has to choose between Gerard Piqué, eric garcia, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Frankie de Jong (assuming he stays, anyway) and Kounde on who starts at center back. It promises to be a battle royale just to get a starting spot. Will it be four back (that is, only two central defenders)? Or is Xavi planning a 3-4-3 in which Kounde is shaping up to be the perfect winger/central amalgam that such a formation demands?
Once again, this lad’s path to success will depend almost as much on his performance in France as it does on his maturation at Sevilla.
“By breaking through, I was used as a right-back when I had always played as a central defender before,” he once said. “In the beginning, it was a total mess. I remember torturous training sessions practicing crosses to forwards, sending the ball all over the place. I would end up crossing behind them or going too low or too high. It was catastrophic! I used to go home completely wretched.”
Take note: he has provided just four assists in his entire club career, but has scored 13 times.
The last time Barcelona signed a music-loving, exuberantly talented 20-something right-back from Sevilla and left Chelsea without a guy they thought they had convinced to come to London, it was Daniel Alves 16 years ago. It’s a lot to live up to, but equally, it’s something for Kounde to aspire to. Doubt him if you choose, but be prepared to eat your words.