July 29, (THEWILL) – Jules Kounde has credited Xavi Hernandez, the Barcelona manager, as being a major factor in his opting for the Blaugrana over Chelsea.
Kounde and Sevilla had full agreements with Chelsea earlier this month for a summer transfer to Stamford Bridge, but the center-back postponed, making a choice to give Barcelona time to match the Blues’ offer. Kounde eventually decided to join Camp Nou once the financial details were in order.
Kounde spoke to Barca TV, after reaching an agreement in principle with the Spanish club, to thank Xavi for his part in bringing the drawn-out process to an end. He said: “Xavi is largely responsible [for the decision]. His speech excited me. I spoke several times with him. The conversations were very fluid and he gave me the feeling that we see football in the same way.
“I’m going to come and hopefully do my best to play a leading role for this club. I’m very proud, grateful and excited because I have arrived at a very big club with a team that is also like that. I want to start playing with the team and join my team-mates as soon as possible. Sevilla are a great club but Barcelona is one more step in my career on every level, especially sporting. I will try to win as many titles as possible.”
Xavi now has a center-back group that also comprises Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique, and Eric Garcia in addition to Andreas Christensen, who came from Chelsea, and they will be joined by Kounde at the Barca backline.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
