Sevilla are furious with Jules Kounde for putting a £69m move to Chelsea under threat after he was forced to have surgery on an issue that flared up international duty.
Thomas Tuchel has identified Kounde as the preferred choice to replace Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, who have both left Stamford Bridge on free transfers.
The Blues were intent on signing Kounde last summer but their options in defence meant they felt compelled to negotiate for the player, rather than paying his £69m release clause.
Chelsea have no such luxury this time around and they had been ready to trigger Kounde’s release clause in order to sign the central defender in time for pre-season.
But Kounde underwent surgery on Tuesday to solve a long-standing pelvic issue and he now faces a race against time to be fit in time for the start of the campaign.
According to the Sun, Sevilla are furious that Kounde exacerbated the problem on international duty with France and they believe the player has put a £69m windfall at risk by threatening his move to Chelsea.
The cash-strapped La Liga club remain hopeful that Chelsea will still pay the release clause but it could depend on how Kounde recovers.
Chelsea return to pre-season training on July 2nd, with Tuchel keen on getting as many of his transfer signings in before then as possible.
