Chelsea & Sevilla believe Jules Kounde transfer will go through

Chelsea and Sevilla are both of the belief that Jules Kounde will sign for the Blues despite Barcelona's interest, 90min understands.

Thomas Tuchel's side have long held an interest in the defender having narrowly failed to complete a deal for him last summer.

Having seen Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leave on free transfers this window, Chelsea have been busy trying to bring in defensive reinforcements and have already completed the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly.

90min reported on Friday that Kounde's representatives had informed Chelsea he was willing to complete a move to Stamford Bridge after they met Sevilla's £55m asking price. However, reports in Spain have since suggested that Barcelona are ready to launch their first formal bid for the France international, though it won't be as lucrative as the Blues' offer.

90min understands Barça are trying to persuade Kounde to resist Chelsea's advances for the time being in order reach an agreement with Sevilla over a transfer fee.

Nevertheless, both Chelsea and Sevilla are confident Kounde will end up heading to Stamford Bridge. The Andalusian club are hoping to close a sale in the coming days and technical director Monchi will join them on their tour of Portugal later this weekend to help finalise a deal. Sevilla would still prefer to sell to Chelsea than Barcelona.

Listen now to 90min's Talking Transfers podcast, with Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth. On the latest show they discuss Chelsea finally closing in on Jules Kounde, Man Utd's ongoing pursuit of Frenkie de Jong, West Ham's hunt for a new forward and left-back and more. Available on all audio platforms.

If you can't see the podcast embed, click here to download the episode in full!

Tuchel was questioned about negotiations for Kounde on Friday, though insisted he could not provide an update.

However, he revealed that Barcelona's public pursuit of Cesar Azpilicueta was beginning to annoy him and their vastly differing valuations of the defender meant that any potential deal could collapse.