Jules Kounde has been left out of Sevilla's 31-man squad to travel to Portugal for their second training camp of the summer. The Frenchman had previously been named in the La Liga side's squad for the trip to South Korea.
Julen Lopetegui's side head to Lagos on Thursday afternoon, ahead of a weekend friendly against Sporting CP. Kounde will not be among their ranks as he appears to near a move away from the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. Whether that is to Chelsea are Barcelona remains to be seen, however.
football.london understands that Chelsea made good progress over a deal with the Spanish side earlier this week with a deal worth £55 million, including add-ons, close to being agreed. The Blues have long since had a verbal agreement with the 23-year-old, having tracked the defender since last summer.
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The Blues were said to be confident of agreeing a deal with Sevilla, though reports suggest that Barcelona have not given up hope. They are unlikely to be able to match Chelsea's offer and may need their target to have as staunch a stance as Raphinha did earlier this summer.
Kounde was widely expected to be Chelsea's first signing of the summer having made early progress over a deal. However, following Chelsea's takeover and Marina Granovskaia departing her role as director at the club, progress seemed to cool over a deal and the Blues have since signed Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Initial delays in interest seemed sensible with Kounde having Nation League commitments with France before requiring surgery for a long-standing injury. Sevilla said at the time: "As was scheduled several weeks ago, Jules Kounde will undergo an operation on Tuesday in Bordeaux for a minor pelvis injury. In principle, if everything goes as expected, the French international will be available for the start of the 2022/23 season."
Kounde completed some rehabilitation work earlier in the summer in Los Angeles before returning to Sevilla's training base but did not feature in the side's opening friendly against Tottenham.
Earlier this week Kounde, whilst driving his car out of the Ciudad Deportiva José Ramón Cisneros Palacios, was congratulated for his pending transfer. A fan said to him: "Good luck wherever you go, have a great time. He responded with a "thank you", in a video that has gone viral on social media.
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