Jules Kounde explains key factor in Chelsea decision during Barcelona unveiling

Jules Kounde has told Chelsea that he always wanted to join Barcelona and admitted that 'it was not a big decision' to choose the Catalan giants over the Blues.

There was a point recently where Chelsea had thought they had beaten Barcelona to the signing of the 23-year-old, but Xavi's influence once again prevailed as the west Londoners' misery was compounded once more.

Kounde's decision to stay in La Liga and snub Chelsea for Barca compounded onto the Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha hurt that was felt in the early parts of the transfer window.

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football.london understood that a verbal agreement was in place between the Blues and Sevilla over a £55million deal for the defender plus personal terms done a while ago but a sudden U-turn after a Xavi call meant that Barca prevailed once again. "Xavi is a big reason as to why I’m here. His spiel convinced me, I’m excited to start working with the team," Kounde said in his first in-house interview via The Evening Standard. "It’s clear that we see football in the same way."

And now, the Frenchman has insinuated that the decision to join Barca over Chelsea was a straightforward one.

Kounde said: "It's true that I had another offer, but I made the effort to wait for Barca to reach an agreement with Sevilla. When I saw that it was possible, I chose Barca because I knew very clearly where I wanted to go.

"It wasn't a big decision, because I wanted to come here. I'm very happy, very proud. I'm coming to a big club, an ambitious club and I'm also coming with ambition."

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