Setback for Barca: Kounde on the way to Chelsea for 55 million

In England they take for granted Kounde will join the Premier League briefly. Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea awaits him. Barcelona can forget about their sought after central defender. 

'The Sun' reports that Kounde is a step away from London. In 48 hours, they add that he is expected to pass his medical at the Blues. 

The deal could have been closed for 55 million pounds (51 million pounds fixed plus 4 in variables). That is the price that Sevilla asked for Kounde and finally, Chelsea have promised to pay it. 

'The Sun' says that Kounde now has the opportunity of speaking to Thomas Tuchel. He is hoping to soon be able to play under him in the team's tour of the USA. 

The paper is convinced that the central defender will end up at Stamford Bridge. The club's experts have said that the agreement is "99% done."

If this news is confirmed, Xavi will suffer a major setback. Barcelona's boss needs defenders and Kounde was for the favourite for the centre of defence. 

At the Camp Nou they are waiting rto complete the departures to fulfil 'Financial Fair Play' rules. They now have Kessie, Christensen, Raphinha and Lewandowski, but in England they are saying that they are going to miss out on Jules Kounde. 

At the moment, the defender is still in Spain. 'Marca' reports that at 8am on Wednesday, the player was arriving at Sevilla's training complex. He did not train with the rest, but he stayed in the gym, training on his own.