We were most likely used for leverage from selling club or player was used as a smoke screen for Varane.
Jules Koundé | Signs for Barcelona
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Not bothered tbh. Chelsea can have him. I wonder whether chelsea were after Varane because this deal happened just after we have agreed for Varane.
It was the only Daily Mail linking us to Kounde I think. I don’t think any reputable journalists/news outlets did.
It would have been a mistake for Chelsea to not have had talked to Varane's agent. I am pretty sure all the top teams contact player's agents that are looking to transfer. Then it becomes gauging interest and wages to see if it would be a good fit.
good fit for chelsea
DM were the earliest ones in the UK linking us to Varane tbf
Good player from what I've seen, think he'll improve Chelsea's already very strong squad if they manage to get it done. Their only weakness is their lack of a true striker.
The next Mangala
Think he'll fit in well in Chelsea's back 3.
If he does sign for us I’d be happy. With any player there’s the chance they could flop. Even varane might struggle. However given we play 3 at the back any flaw he might have could be mitigated.. providing he starts over Christensen and Rudiger who were beastly last season.
By all accounts Chelsea inquired but Varane had his heart set on United.
That said (and not trying to be too sour grapes-y), Kounde arguably fills a bigger need especially long-term for Chelsea - whilst we have Christensen to step in for Thiago Silva, we need a young wide CB who can progress the ball and who is comfortable stepping up into advanced positions to press to take over from Azpilicueta - Kounde ticks all those boxes.
Think they were planning on using Hakimi as the RWB and moving James to RCB, obviously that failed so they're going to keep James as the RWB and use Kounde to replace Azpilicueta as the RCB.
Yep spot on I'd reckon. Either way it's encouraging to see forward thinking in terms of recruitment for that side.
Chelsea are going to be pretty strong next season. Any idea about their CF purchase?
Broja and ugbo added to chelsea forward line yesterday in friendly game. Looks like no more addition there. Tuchel believe in Werner and havertz to bring goals in my opinion. No noise about striker purchase other than old rinse and repeat haaland rumours.
Need to quote this. Not only do I think Kounde will do well, but he's also pretty much the opposite type of CB to Mangala. Mangala was all physicality and prone to being too aggressive on the verge of dangerous, similar to Bailly at times.
Kounde relies more on skill than physicality
Think he will do better in a back 3, good signing.
Bit short though..
Bit short though..
perfect for a back 3
Next Ake
I am a fan. The only question is how he deals with aerial bombardment - maybe less of an issue with Chelsea if they continue to play 3 at the back.
Can’t say I’ve seen too much of him. I’m sure he’s a fine young player with a chance to be a stud for a team like Chelsea, but going off the little I have seen of him, albeit not for club but for country, don’t think he’s at this level yet. I thought when I saw him play in the Euros, he played sped up, seemed unaware of positioning and he had a number of loose passes, even with no level of difficulty. Then again, I now understand that RB is his secondary position so I can’t judge him based on that one performance, shouldn’t regardless after a single match.
If Chelsea go through with this, it would be one of the most interesting signings in this window imo. I can’t say I have watched him play much but he seems an interesting player that would be great for a team trying to play a high line. I can understand the worries that he’s short, but he won 3.1 aerials per game last season which is among the highest in la liga. Then he lost many duels as well…
Targeted with high balls because he is so short? Won some, lost some…
His ability to play both CB and RB will be a bonus for Chelsea. Apparently Bordeaux have a 30% sell on fee clause so Sevilla would be better off with money + a chelsea player in exchange as if it was striaght cash deal. la liga rules being so stringent means that even after giving Bordeaux their 30% share, sevilla couldnt spend the rest of the money on a replacement.
61% win percentage, which is the same as Ruben Dias. It's about the average for a CB. Certainly not a strength of his. Who would be his partner you think? Thiago Silva?
Here's the top 20 CB's with a minimum of 80 Aerial Challenges.
Player | Club | Mins | Total Aerial | Aerial Won | Aerial Lost | Won % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nikola Milenkovic | Fiorentina | 2946 | 127 | 98 | 29 | 77% |
Raphael Varane | Real Madrid | 2717 | 96 | 73 | 23 | 76% |
Harry Maguire | Manchester United | 3048 | 179 | 135 | 44 | 75% |
Stefan Bell | Mainz 05 | 1272 | 92 | 69 | 23 | 75% |
José Fonte | Lille | 3190 | 108 | 80 | 28 | 74% |
David García | Osasuna | 3150 | 220 | 162 | 58 | 74% |
Mats Hummels | Borussia Dortmund | 2790 | 176 | 129 | 47 | 73% |
John Brooks | Wolfsburg | 2757 | 130 | 95 | 35 | 73% |
Benoit Badiashile | Monaco | 2751 | 142 | 103 | 39 | 73% |
Berat Djimsiti | Atalanta | 2328 | 90 | 65 | 25 | 72% |
Tyrone Mings | Aston Villa | 3195 | 126 | 91 | 35 | 72% |
Felipe | Atletico Madrid | 1979 | 100 | 72 | 28 | 72% |
Jonny Evans | Leicester | 2476 | 130 | 93 | 37 | 72% |
Gerard Piqué | Barcelona | 1485 | 86 | 61 | 25 | 71% |
Francesco Acerbi | Lazio | 2815 | 88 | 62 | 26 | 70% |
Marcelo | Lyon | 2912 | 160 | 112 | 48 | 70% |
Michael Keane | Everton | 2946 | 156 | 109 | 47 | 70% |
Kiki Kouyate | Metz | 1890 | 136 | 95 | 41 | 70% |
Joachim Andersen | Fulham | 2672 | 139 | 97 | 42 | 70% |
Kurt Zouma | Chelsea | 1980 | 125 | 87 | 38 | 70% |
Could absolutely be the case, I haven’t watched him enough to make any claims at all in that regard. But he seems to be an aggressive player, attacking both in the air and on the ground
Garcia’s numbers are insane. He won a header every 19 minutes over a full season where he played basically every match. Tarkowski has similar numbers but at slightly lower %.
It’s annoying that you can’t get offensive and defensive aerials stats separately. Or at least I don’t know how to get it (have done it manually but it takes time).
It will be interesting to see how he copes in the prem. Seems to have some of the attributes he’ll need but it will be a test I think. Glad to see him coming to England anyway.Could absolutely be the case, I haven’t watched him enough to make any claims at all in that regard. But he seems to be an aggressive player, attacking both in the air and on the ground
I feel the same. The PL is a different beast when it comes to the physicality and also the pressure put the CBs is something extra compared to other leagues.
Almost certainly we'll be sticking with the 3-4-2-1 - so Kounde would be slotting into the Azpilicueta RCB spot next to Silva / Christensen. Rudiger the likely LCB.
I like this guy, he’s got a never say die attitude, he’s stood out whenever I’ve watched him , great signing for Chelsea
That seems pretty likley
Equally jorghino and kante will probably occupy the two central mid roles
Assuming mount gets one of the attacking slots and they do bring in a new cf that leaves a lot of people fighting over that remaining space... havertz pulisic zeiych Hudson odi Werner
Looks a good team but tuchel is going to have his work cut out keeping all those attackers happy
This is getting done soon too. Chelsea is playing Football Manager again
Yeah if Tuchel sets them up like that I think they’ll keep a lot of clean sheets and, with Lukaku, will hammer some of the weaker teams but I think they will struggle to create enough chances to beat the better sides.
We did well with out of form players against better sides last season. Liverpool,city*3,Leicester,both Madrid's,Tottenham.
Under tuchel we lost against arsenal other than that freak goal game we pretty much created well against all top teams we faced despite our forwards not able to score some of the easiest chances.Even against man utd we played well despite drew the game.
True. I think you’ll struggle with Tuchel’s approach this year. Time will tell!
Kounde's agent: " Hey"
Marina: " New phone, who dis"
Marina: " New phone, who dis"
I suppose Marina backed up her sim and took the call in the end
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Sevilla have denied a 50m bid by Chelsea.
I get that they rate him, but 80m for a midget CB. What the hell.
Same height as Azpi and he'd bring the same versatility in terms of positioning, I can understand they're tempted but it's a very costly move indeed
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