Chelsea’s move to sign Jules Kounde is not completely dead, though Sevilla have set a deadline before midnight in order for any new transfer offer to be made.
The Blues have been looking to sign the defender for most of the summer and negotiations were expected to move ahead after Kurt Zouma’s move to West Ham on Saturday.
But Sevilla continue to play hardball over a fee and Chelsea’s proposal of £42.8m is nowhere near what the Spanish club are prepared to sell the player for.
Chelsea have continued to negotiate and are expected to return with one more offer on deadline day, though ABC report that Monchi has set a deadline earlier than the usual midnight cut-off.
The Sevilla sporting director will only give the London club until 1pm Spanish time, midday in the UK – in order to make their final proposal for Kounde.
Anything beyond that will not give the La Liga side enough time to sign a replacement and Kounde is reported to be ‘nervously glued to the phone’ waiting to hear if Chelsea have increased their bid.
But at this stage in the window, Sevilla will only accept a fee close to Kounde’s original £68.5m release clause, meaning Chelsea will need to increase their bid.
If the midday deadline passes and the Blues have not made a suitable offer, Chelsea will need to pay out Kounde’s full €90m release clause, with the buyout having increased in the final days of the window due to a clause in his current contract.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel previously intimated that the club were still working on making new signings, saying on Friday: ‘Well we are hoping; we still have some ideas and we are trying.
‘And not all decisions are taken regarding also to our squad. So there are some negotiations going on and we are aware of all the situations.
‘Hoping as in meaning that we need something to make the coach happy or to be competitive? Absolutely not.
‘Because I’m happy with the squad as it is, and I have a lot of confidence we are absolutely competitive on a high level. But still all eyes are open, and we are aware of all situations and you never know in football.’
