Jules Kounde reveals why he rejected Chelsea to join Barcelona instead

Jules Kounde has confirmed he had the option to join Chelsea but decided to wait for an offer to materialise from Barcelona, with the defender preferring a move to Camp Nou.

Despite the addition of Kalidou Koulibaly already this summer, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has been keen to reinforce his back-line even further and the west Londoners made a big push to sign Kounde.

A little over a week ago, the Blues actually thought they had won the race to sign the 23-year-old after agreeing a £55million fee with Sevilla.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta even conceded defeat, telling a supporter that the centre-back was heading to Chelsea.

Sevilla sporting director Monchi has since claimed that Chelsea U-turned on the deal, expressing doubts at the eleventh hour, but Kounde has given an alternative version of events and says he was always prepared to wait for Barcelona.

‘It’s true that I had the opportunity to sign for Chelsea but we had to wait for Barca to find an agreement with Sevilla,’ he said at his unveiling when asked about interest from the west London club.

‘When I saw that it was possible, I chose Barcelona, I was very clear about that. It’s a big club and an ambitious project.’

Barcelona’s director of football Mateu Alemany also spoke at Kounde’s unveiling and revealed that the player’s agent had been calling him relentlessly during Chelsea pursuit, with the defender clearly eager to join the Catalans.

Speaking about Kounde’s agent, Jonathan Kebe, Alemany said: ‘He was calling me every day to find out about fair play issues because Kounde wanted to come. I had to tell him to stop calling because I didn’t know what to say.

‘After the second financial lever was activated he almost had a deal with another club [Chelsea] but