Chelsea and Liverpool cause ‘TROUBLE’ over star with €1bn release clause

Barcelona “anticipate trouble” over Jules Kounde amid reports that Chelsea and Liverpool are interested in the France international.

The 27-year-old has been one of LaLiga’s standout defenders in recent years. Last season, Kounde was one of Barcelona’s most consistent and reliable players as they won the domestic treble.

This season, it hasn’t been quite as smooth sailing. Kounde has made some mistakes, and he remains frustrated with his position. The Frenchman insists that he is a central defender, but he continues to be used at right-back by Hansi Flick.

Seemingly every year, Kounde is linked with a potential move away. Chelsea are known to be long-term admirers, and they are now once again being associated with a transfer for him. Liverpool are also said to be keeping an eye on his situation.

According to Sport, these new reports have been registered at Barcelona, and the club “anticipate trouble” and “noise” surrounding Kounde this summer. The links with Chelsea are particularly “concerning” because of their long-standing admiration for him.

Kounde has a €1bn release clause

Ultimately, though, Barcelona remain calm over Kounde’s future. He only signed a new contract – with a €1 billion release clause – in August, putting the Catalans in a strong position.

The Blaugrana continue to view him as a “highly-valued asset” and would ideally like to keep him. So far, Kounde has shown nothing but “total commitment” to the club.

Nevertheless, given Barcelona’s continuous run-ins with LaLiga’s salary cap and spending rules, a potential big-money transfer can’t be entirely ruled out. It is claimed that Liverpool could pay as much as €80 million for him, a fee that could certainly be attractive to Barca.

Whether anything will indeed materialise, though, is a different question. Right now, these rumours appear to be an unwelcome distraction after Barcelona were plunged into crisis by Atletico Madrid.

The situation at the club is tense after the 4-0 loss, with players reportedly informing head coach Hansi Flick that they are growing increasingly concerned with his play style. The last thing Barcelona will do right now is entertain interest in one of their star players.

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