Gus Poyet has urged Chelsea to sign Sevilla central defender Jules Kounde in the summer transfer window.
Kounde wanted to move to Stamford Bridge last summer window, with the Blues keen to do a deal for the France international.
The Champions League holders believed they had reached an agreement over Kounde’s fee, only for Sevilla to raise their asking price by £12.8m to £68.5m, a figure which Chelsea refused to match.
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The London club remain in the market for a centre-back, with Antonio Rudiger still nowhere closer to signing a new contract with the club, despite being in the last year of his current deal.
And former Chelsea player Poyet, who coached Kounde during his time as manager of Bordeaux in 2018, believes that the Blues should do everything to bring the France star to Stamford Bridge.
‘Jules Kounde played 90 minutes in every game he played for me. Jules was a very good professional from a very young age – at 19, he was already assuming responsibilities,’ he told Genting Casino.
‘He was a guy who I connected with very well from the beginning – he had what I like from a centre-half.
‘The responsibility I gave him as centre-half, with and without the ball, he understood it from the first minute, so I knew he would be very, very important for me.
‘I was not surprised when he went to Sevilla for 25 million, because I knew he wanted to have an experience at a bigger club. ‘And he’s already won the Europa League with Sevilla, which is fantastic and important for him as well.
‘I think he’s got the quality to come to a top team in England – I’ve got no doubt. And if it’s Chelsea – even better, because I would like to see him, and I would like him to play for Chelsea.
‘He wants to improve all the time, he listens to the coach, he wants to train. He is very powerful, a very special boy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s coming to England next summer.’
