Jules Koundé set for Chelsea move - Sevilla expecting record transfer fee for star defender

Chelsea are set to complete the signing of Sevilla central defender Jules Koundé, following the player’s omission from his club’s pre-season trip to Lagos, Portugal. The Stamford Bridge side have been heavily linked with a move for the club amid similar interest from Barcelona but, according to French news agency EFE, the defender is on his way to London to complete a reported transfer worth an initial €55 million, with €5m in add-ons. 

Koundé has been a Chelsea transfer target for a number of years now, with the player coming close to joining the club last summer. However, at the time, Thomas Tuchel had Antonio Rüdifer and Andreas Christensen to call upon, alongside senior defender Thiago Silva. Much has changed since then, with the former two now departing the club for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. As such, Chelsea have been desperate to sign some new defenders ahead of the new season. The former European champions began their back-line rebuild with the signing of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly for €38m and have also enquired about the availability of RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol. However, it now seems certain that the club’s next major signing will be Koundé from Sevilla, who would arrive as the London club’s nine most expensive signing ever and the highest fee the Spanish club have ever received for a player.

'I could be happy everywhere' - Werner hints at Chelsea exit 

Although Chelsea may be entirely focused on players coming into the club, they may have to pay some attention to stars that could yet push for a move away from the Stamford Bridge side before the end of the window. One such player is striker Timo Werner, who recently suggested that he may need to leave the club to get back to playing games and scoring goals. I could be happy everywhere," Werner said this week. "The most important thing is that I am happy. I am happy when I play and score goals. That's the fact. That's what I should take care of, and other things will come."

He added: "The manager always has different ideas, different thoughts and what you need in different games. In many games, I was not in his thoughts, so I try to change that. It is not different to last season, and it was the same when Romelu [Lukaku] came. We had big, big competition. It's still the same. At a big club like Chelsea, you have that competition. In pre-season, you can show that you want to play, that you are a guy who wants to be in the starting eleven. That's what I try."