Right now, it looks like Jules Kounde is on his way to joining Barcelona in the days to come. Of course, football fans have learned that situations can be turned around quite easily, especially when Chelsea and Blaugrana are involved. However, this is just another disappointing stop on a treacherous and dismal journey shaping up to be the 2022/23 season for the Blues. Kounde, who has been one step away from signing for Chelsea for more than a year – will become the second player Barcelona have wrested from the reigning Club World Cup champions this summer.
The Blues now carry on fight for the help of the central while the penniless team laughs all the way to the bank. It’s an infuriating saga that’s hard to watch helplessly from the sidelines. Chelsea have done a lot of things right in recent months during the club’s transition, but both regimes – old and new – have been thrown off balance by this particular transfer. When the Blues take a hard look in the mirror before next season, they alone will be to blame for this mess involving the signing of Kounde.
Chelsea is only to blame for the mess in the Jules Kounde transfer saga
Needless to say, the government sanctions and subsequent ownership situation set Chelsea back quite a bit. However, Kounde’s management incompetence has been staggering on more than one level. Kounde has been said to be a priority for the Blues for the last 12 months. Both Thomas Tuchel and the Chelsea hierarchy were reported to love the defender. However, when it came time to put his money where his mouth is, the Blues found themselves courting other potential central defender candidates.
First it was Matthijs de Ligt, followed by Nathan Ake and kalidou koulibaly. Chelsea have also explored signings for the likes of Josko Gvardiol and Presnel Kimpembe. Meanwhile, Kounde was sitting in Seville waiting to answer the phone when the Blues called. The problem is that they didn’t…until they did.
Chelsea didn’t revive their interest in the French international until mid-July, after he had already missed out on other targets – a great way to make a player feel like a club wanted him. The Blues gave Barcelona enough time to activate another economic lever (summer term) and do a race in Kounde. Xavi has reportedly been calling Kounde almost every day to convince him to move to Catalonia, while Chelsea have done all their business through Sevilla, having struck a personal deal with the player last summer. Now it’s not hard to understand why Kounde feels as if the blaugrana love him more.
When Barcelona inevitably sign the 23-year-old, Blues fans will cry and complain about the Spanish giants’ unethical spending tactics. There is no doubting the fact that UEFA and possibly FIFA should have stepped in long ago to investigate these shady economic dealings, but that point is moot. Chelsea are only to blame if Kounde chooses to play elsewhere because he has shown a serious lack of understanding of how to do business throughout this entire transfer saga.
East [Chelsea’s performance vs. Arsenal] The show has been and will continue to be compared to Raphinha’s treatment. But it’s nothing like the battle for the Brazilian’s signature. The Blues went to great lengths to sign Raphinha, simply losing out to a team the former Leeds United star always dreamed of joining. Here, if Chelsea had simply treated Kounde with a bit more respect, he probably could have joined them on their pre-season tour of America. Instead, the Blues showed little regard for his decision and is willing to make them pay.
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