Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Manchester United revive interest in €80m defender obsessed over at Chelsea

Jules Kounde Mikel Oyarzabal France v Spain October 2021

Manchester United have revived their interest in centre-back Jules Kounde and are set to rival Chelsea for his signature, claims a report.

The Sevilla defender was mentioned as a target for United in the summer before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer landed Raphael Varane. The Real Madrid man, who will be out for a few weeks with a groin injury, arrived from Real Madrid for £41m.

The France star, who limped off against Spain, on Sunday has become Harry Maguire’s defensive partner.

However, United are still interested in Sevilla star Kounde, according to Fichajes, via Goal.

Chelsea locked on to the 22-year-old in the summer and looked destined to sign the five-cap star. Sevilla were understood to be asking for €50m and Chelsea lodged their €50m offer in the last week of the August transfer window.

However, Sevilla sporting director Monchi changed his mind. Instead, he demanded the centre-back’s release clause, which stands at €80m. And Sevilla president Jose Castro pointed to the LaLiga club’s strength after rejected Chelsea’s offer.

“Even so, with Chelsea’s offer of €50million, the deficit was wiped out. That speaks of the strength of the club.

“I don’t know how many teams in Spain would say ‘no’ to Chelsea’s €50m and maintain this deficit, considering that the squad is worth €400m [£340m].”

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Now the Spanish outlet report that United could come in with an offer for Kounde, who is under contract until 2024.


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Chelsea still chasing Kounde

Chelsea though are unlikely to abort their mission to land Kounde and a January offer has already been mooted.

And The Evening Standard back up claims that Roman Abramovich is ready to back Thomas Tuchel as they pursue Kounde.

The Blues currently stand to lose Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Thiago Silva at the end of the season. All three are out of contract, although Christensen is said to be close to signing a new deal.

Therefore January may well see a duel between the Premier League pair, with Sevilla the likely winners. There’s no way the LaLiga club will sell Kounde for anything less than his €80m buy-out clause.

Sevilla transfer guru Monchi revealed recently that there were other clubs interested in Kounde. However, it seems as though the player was not interested in moving anywhere else.

Monchi and Co will be hoping for an auction between the two rivals. With Chelsea’s need looking greater than United’s at this point in time.

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