By Abdi Rashid For Mailonline
Published: 13:08 EDT, 28 July 2022 | Updated: 14:46 EDT, 28 July 2022
Barcelona have confirmed they have reached an agreement with Sevilla to sign defender Jules Kounde in a deal worth £46million.
The 23-year-old was filmed arriving for his medical and the deal comes as a big blow to Chelsea and manager Thomas Tuchel, who prioritised the France international in their attempt to rebuild the defence .
Providing that he passes the medical, Kounde will become Barcelona's fifth signing in what is turning out to be a busy summer for the Laliga side.
Barcelona have confirmed they have reached an agreement with Sevilla to sign Jules Kounde
Chelsea have moved to block Marcos Alonso's transfer to the Catalan giants in response to Barca snatching Kounde.
According to reports, the Blues are also reluctant to allow fellow defender Cesar Azpilicueta to complete his move to the Nou Camp in what is becoming an increasingly fractious and complicated set of negotiations.
It comes after Barcelona swooped for Kounde even after Chelsea had seen their offer accepted.
Andreas Christensen has already made the switch from Chelsea to Barcelona this summer, but there is now doubt over whether fellow defenders Alonso and Azpilicueta will follow.
The deal comes as a blow to Chelsea, who targeted Kounde as their priority defensive signing
Chelsea believed they had secured the Kounde after Sevilla agreed to their £55m offer but Barcelona gazumped them at the eleventh hour.
Barca had pulled off a similar move to hijack Chelsea's move to sign Raphinha from Leeds United earlier in the summer.
Chelsea came close to signing Kounde, 23, last summer and earlier in this window there was a strong belief in Spain that the Frenchman moving to Stamford Bridge was inevitable once the Todd Boehly takeover was completed.
Kounde is set to become the latest player to join Xavi's Barcelona, despite their financial issues
The player has always preferred to join Barcelona and the club even briefly had his shirt name available for purchase on their online store before it was quickly deleted.
Chelsea have signed Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli in a deal worth £34million but had long been pursuing Kounde as Tuchel looks to reinforce his backline after losing Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, who has joined Real Madrid.
The Blues are also weighing up a move for Leicester's Wesley Fofana after missing out on Kounde.
Barcelona swooping for Kounde is likely to further anger Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel
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