Thomas Tuchel is no longer keen on signing Sevilla defender Jules Kounde but Chelsea’s hierarchy intend to continue talks irrespective of the manager’s wishes, according to reports.
The German had identified a new striker and defender as the two keys areas he wanted to bolster during the summer window, with the club smashing their record to sign Romelu Lukaku to tick one of those boxes.
The Blues were expected to to bring in a new defender – with Kounde their top choice – before the window closes, but Tuchel seems to have had a re-think.
The Chelsea manager has been impressed by Trevoh Chalobah during pre-season, starting him in the Super Cup against Villarreal and against Crystal Palace, and wants the player to be part of the first-team.
According to AS, Chalobah’s emergence coupled with Chelsea’s abundance of defenders has seen Tuchel ‘change his mind’ over the need to sign the Sevilla star.
With players like Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger and Kurt Zouma already at Stamford Bridge, and Reece James and Azpilicueta capable of playing in central defense too, they are overloaded with defensive options.
But AS claim Chelsea director Granovskaia wants to go ahead with the deal, with Kounde seen as an outstanding prospect, while they may never get a free run at the player again with clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona dealing with financial issues this summer.
Tuchel, though, has spoken of the need to protect the balance of his team and he could be left with a lot of unhappy and underused playets if Kounde arrives.
Zouma could yet leave the club to open up a place in the squad, but he turned down a move to West Ham who could not match his salary demands.
Tuchel is also believed to favour signing a new central midfielder over a centre-back, with Chelsea only having three recognised, senior players in the position: Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Kovacic.
Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez is an option, while Monaco’s defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni is also on the club’s radar.
