Barcelona reveal Jules Kounde’s agent rang them EVERY DAY to help seal transfer despite being in talks with Chelsea
JULES KOUNDE’S agent had Barcelona on speed dial in order to seal his client a dream move to the Nou Camp.
Director of football Mateu Alemany confirmed the Frenchman’s agent called them “almost every day” before finally sealing a transfer.
Kounde had been on the verge of joining Chelsea before Barca stepped in at the eleventh hour and hijacked the move.
Alemany revealed Kounde was “waiting” for Barcelona’s offer which allowed the Spaniards to seal a deal.
The cash-strapped club have forked out close to £100million on Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, but somehow afforded another £55m to land Kounde.
But the Frenchman had no doubts about joining Xavi at the Nou Camp.
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Alemany said: “Almost every day they (Kounde’s team) called me for an update because Kounde wanted to join Barca and he was waiting for us.
“In the end I had to tell Jonathan (Kebe, the player’s agent) not to call anymore because I didn’t know what to tell him.
“When we sold the second portion of future TV rights, Kounde had almost closed his deal with another club. But he wanted to come to Barca.”
Barcelona have sold off a portion of their TV rights in order to fund transfers this summer, while Frenkie de Jong remains linked with a move away.
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Both Kounde and Raphinha have been pinched from under Chelsea’s noses – but Alemany still insists the club get on well with the Blues.
That’s good for him considering the Catalan outfit remain keen on Chelsea duo Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.
Alemany added: “We have a very good relationship with Chelsea. We had dinner with the club’s owner.
“It’s possible that we have interest in another one of their players but I don’t want to talk about players who have contracts at other clubs.”
Kounde himself admitted he turned down Chelsea in favour of a move to Barca.
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The defender said: “It’s true that I had the opportunity to sign for Chelsea but we had to wait for Barca to find an agreement with Sevilla.
“When I saw that it was possible, I chose Barcelona, I was very clear about that. It’s a big club and an ambitious project.”