Jules Kounde is almost a Chelsea player.
The Sevilla star was one of LaLiga’s standout defenders last season as they secured an impressive fourth-placed finish and reports claim he is moving closer to Stamford Bridge.
The 22-year-old’s strongest position is as a centre-half, but he is able to play at right-back if needed.
Chelsea have sold central defenders Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi to AC Milan and Crystal Palace, respectively, while Kurt Zouma’s future remains uncertain amid interest from Tottenham and he could potentially move to Sevilla as part of a swap deal.
Zouma’s departure would leave Blues boss Thomas Tuchel with Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger as his recognised central defenders.
Right-backs Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James also featured in the back-three at times last season.
However, the right-sided centre-back position seems to be perfectly suited for Kounde.
Since joining Sevilla from Bordeaux in 2019, he has showcased incredible speed, ability on the ball and smart positional sense – three ideal qualities for a centre-half.
Those skills were noticed by France boss Didier Deschamps who included Kounde in his Euro 2020 squad, despite never capping him previously.
He was played at right-back in a substitute appearance against Wales, before starting in the same position in a 2-2 draw with Portugal in the group stages.
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Despite being a centre-half by trade, Kounde has been called ‘Cafu’ – one of football’s greatest ever right-backs – by his Sevilla teammates.
Explaining the nickname, Sevilla defender Diego Carlos said: “In training Jules takes the ball on the side, runs out and we shout, ‘there goes Cafu!’
“He goes and doesn’t come back, he advances until he finishes and scores.
“He’s a boy who can go back and forth. He has a lot of strength and power in his legs.”
Kounde is a big-game player, too, and chips in with important goals every now and then.
He scored an excellent solo goal in a 2-0 win over Barcelona by beating three players before firing past Marc-Andre ter Stegen last season.
While Kounde has several strengths, his 5ft 10ins frame for a centre-back has appeared to worry a section of Chelsea fans.
However, Kounde won three aerial duels per game in the 2020/21 LaLiga season and relishes going up against taller players.
He said: “I win more head-to-head duels than Sergio Ramos because the opponents don’t dare play long on Ramos.
“They must say to themselves, ‘It’s Jules Kounde, he’s not tall, we’re going to take him down in the air’.
“I am often targeted, I feel it. And sometimes, it is pointed out to me. After games, I am often told that.
“When I watch my matches again, I realise that I play a lot more aerial duels than the others. They say to themselves, ‘it will be easier against Kounde’, and that motivates me.”
Kounde is right too, last season he won 63.8 per cent of his aerial duels, Ramos won 56.9 per cent, despite being involved in 134 more than the Spaniard.
Man City were heavily linked with a move for Kounde last summer, before Pep Guardiola opted to bring in Ruben Dias for £61.2m instead.
But Sevilla sporting director Monchi revealed the club turned down a ‘magnificent offer’ for their star man last year, rumoured to be from City.
He said: “We did what we thought was fair and in defence of the interests of the club, also in an ambitious way, because many people would have chosen to accept that offer.
“We value pros and cons and believe in the player, that has been key. We believe in the projection of a player with a lot of ground to make up.
“Despite it being a magnificent offer, very, very good, it did not satisfy the requests or what we thought of the player.
“Perhaps it was not what he was worth, because possibly that offer was close to what he was worth at that moment but we also have to think about what he can be worth [in the future].”
Kounde has a £68million release clause in his contract, which runs for another three years.
And it is no surprise to see that Tuchel has made him his No.1 defensive target as Chelsea look to mount a Premier League title challenge for the upcoming season.