Chelsea are close to agreeing a deal with Sevilla for French defender Jules Kounde but the Premier League club are expected to face competition from Barcelona, according to media reports.
Chelsea, who completed the signing of Senegalese centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly last week, are in the market for more defenders after the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Kounde has been a top target since last summer, when Chelsea were unable to agree a fee with Sevilla, but the Blues are closer this time round to landing the 23-year-old France international. It is being reported that Sevilla could accept €60 million ($61.4m) for Kounde, €5m less than the buyout clause in his contract, while the player is understood to have agreed personal terms with Chelsea.
However, Chelsea will hope recent history does not repeat itself. The Premier League side have already been beaten by Barcelona to the signature of Brazilian winger Raphinha this summer, and the Spanish giants are also reportedly interested in Kounde, despite already spending a reported €110m on new players amid their well-documented financial problems.
Should Chelsea complete the signing of Kounde, who can play as a right-sided centre-back or at right-back, it could pave the way for captain Cesar Azpilicueta to leave the club, with Barca rumoured to be keen on the versatile Spaniard, although that might still depend on the Blues signing more defenders.
Chelsea train during pre-season tour
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is reportedly eager to add three more centre-backs to his squad and the club have held talks with Paris Saint-Germain for Kounde's international colleague Presnel Kimpembe, while recent reports claim the Blues could make an approach for RB Leipzig’s Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol. Both players could fill the left-sided centre-back position vacated by Rudiger, however advanced talks with Manchester City over Nathan Ake have collapsed.
Kounde came through the youth ranks at Bordeaux in France before joining Sevilla in 2019, winning the Europa League with the Spanish side in his first season. He has been capped 11 times by France and was part of the squad that won the 2021 Nations League.
Chelsea, who are in the United States for a pre-season tour, have completed two major signings so far, Koulibaly's €34m arrival from Napoli coming days after England forward Raheem Sterling moved from City.
100 major summer transfers so far
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Tickets
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
