Chelsea have been trying to assemble a quality back line, and they’ve invested a lot in promising young center backs around European football over the last few years.
Most of those signings haven’t worked out. Aside from Levi Colwill, Chelsea haven’t found a true building block at the center back position. Wesley Fofana is injured too frequently to rely on, Benoit Badiashile has been highly inconsistent, and Axel Disasi is currently loaned out to Aston Villa after failing to seal a spot.
Originally, the center back Chelsea wanted more than anyone else was Jules Kounde back in 2022, but despite the Blues’ best efforts, they lost out on the world-class LaLiga youngster at Sevilla to one of the country’s two biggest clubs, Barcelona, for just 50 million euros (10 million less than his market value at the time)
Kounde has blossomed in Barcelona, but he has mostly been playing at right back due to a surplus of talent in central defense and a relative dearth of quality on the right side.
According to a repot from Diario Sport’s L. Miguelsanz, Chelsea are going to go all in with everything they have in order to sign Kounde in the summer 2025 transfer window.
Although Kounde has been great for Barcelona, there’s always been an opening for him to leave the club for a different opportunity in the Premier League, and he was actually on the shopping list over a year ago before Xavi decided against selling him.
Chelsea fans know Kounde is the world-class young center back they should have signed a couple of years ago but couldn’t, and if there’s any chance of making it all right and bringing the Frenchman back in their ranks, then they have to take it.
Kounde is an intelligent, strong ball-playing center back with versatility, and he’d immediately be their best center back, even above Colwill. Barcelona shouldn’t let him to go for a low price, but Kounde would be a much better investment than many of Chelsea’s previous business.
Joe Soriano covers West Ham for Green Street Hammers and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.