Chelsea report: Barcelona confident Blues target would prefer Camp Nou move

Barcelona are confident that they can successfully hijack Chelsea’s move for Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, according to reports.

The France international looked set to join the Blues after multiple reports said a £55 million deal had been agreed with Sevilla for his transfer.

However, Barca’s eleventh-hour intervention could still scupper the Premier League side’s efforts.

Sky Sports News reports that the Camp Nou club are confident of getting a deal done because of Kounde’s preference to join them over Chelsea.

Interest in the 23-year-old from Catalonia is what has stalled the Blues’ progress, as Kounde is holding on to see if Barca can agree terms with their La Liga rivals for a transfer.

Chelsea are now waiting on further developments from Spain before they know if they have got their hands on their second major defensive signing.

Kalidou Koulibaly was brought in from Napoli for a reported £34m last weekend, but Thomas Tuchel still wants another top-level centre-back to join the Senegal international.

Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger left the club at the end of their contracts earlier this summer, leaving the Blues in need of two new recruits.

It has been a frustrating week for Tuchel, who has seen the Kounde deal delayed and was left exasperated by his players’ lack of commitment when they were thrashed 4-0 by Arsenal in a pre-season friendly on Saturday in Orlando.