It happened in the summer of 2019. Just after the presentation of Jules Koundé (Paris, 23 years old) as a new Sevilla player, some journalists asked Monchi, the Andalusian club’s sports director, if the 25 million euros had not been too many euros paid to the Girondins for a 20-year-old footballer with a very short career in the elite with just 70 games for the club. “You’ll see in a few years,” answered Monchi. Three years later, Sevilla sells the French international defender for 50 million fixed plus about 10 in variables. 20% of these 50 million will go to the Girondins. The Andalusian club has already made official an agreement in principle for the transfer. Monchi again obtains a great capital gain to sustain a club model that is based on trying to buy cheap and sell high while achieving sporting success.
In these three seasons, Koundé has established himself as one of the best central defenders in Europe, an absolute international with France on nine occasions and a permanent fixture at Sevilla with whom he won the Europa League in 2020 and achieved three consecutive qualifications for the Champions League as fourth classified in the last three league editions.
The transfer to Barcelona puts an end to an episode that in Seville had become eternal. The Andalusian club would have preferred to sell the defender to Chelsea, who came very close to signing Koundé. In Seville they do not know very well why, after having reached a verbal agreement with the English team around 55 million as a fixed figure for the transfer, Chelsea never put it in writing or sent the documentation to close the verbal agreement to which had arrived. That happened at the end of last week. Meanwhile, Koundé left for Sevilla’s concentration in Portugal, where he has been training alone as he is recovering from an injury that occurred with the French team at the end of last season. At Sevilla they sense that Koundé has preferred to stay in LaLiga, seduced by the message from a Xavi who has promised him a great journey at Barcelona. According to some sources in the operation, the athlete will earn around six million a year at his new club, three times what he earns now.
Sevilla has requested bank guarantees in the face of a possible non-payment by the Catalan club, heavily punished economically. The Andalusian fans have not accepted the transfer of Koundé to Barcelona very well, as it is understood that he is reinforcing a rival from the League itself. Sevilla, however, had promised the defender that he would leave this summer after failing to sell him to Chelsea last year. He had a contract until 2024. Koundé said goodbye to his teammates in the Algarve this Thursday morning to appear in Barcelona, where he will undergo a medical examination. Although his initial idea was to join the culé team’s tour in the United States, it is most likely that he will join the training sessions with his new teammates already in Spain next Monday.
The purchase of Koundé was at the time the highest in the history of Sevilla. Those 25 million have now become 50, according to Sevilla sources. In addition, five million are included in easily compliant variables. There are other quantities that are more difficult to meet in this section of the variables. One of them is that Barcelona win the Champions League with Koundé in their ranks.
The transfer of Koundé also becomes the most expensive sale in the history of Sevilla. These 50 million far exceed the 40 that the Andalusian team from Monaco received for Ben Yedder, as well as the 35 that Barcelona itself paid for Lenglet in the summer of 2018. Sevilla and Barcelona have always understood each other very well Time to finalize the transfers. In addition to Lenglet, Dani Alves, Rakitic, Aleix Vidal and Keita have been the other important sales made by Sevilla to Barcelona in this century.
❗ LAST MINUTE
Principle of agreement with Sevilla for the transfer of @jkeey4
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) July 28, 2022
Koundé, who had first reached an agreement with Chelsea and then with Barcelona, has gone through this whole process calmly and without putting too much pressure on Sevilla. The defender, who will be on France’s list for the next World Cup in Qatar in November, has played a total of 133 games for Sevilla in these three seasons, scoring nine goals. He is a footballer who usually plays as a center back, although he can also play as a winger. Sevilla’s coaches even comment that in the future, if he irons out some flaws, he could even play defensive midfielder. The sale of Koundé is the second made by Sevilla after that of Diego Carlos to Aston Villa for a fixed price of 30 million. Until now, the Andalusian club has only signed central defender Marcao, from Galatasaray, for 12 million.
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