Chelsea are ‘close’ to agreeing a fee to sign Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, as Thomas Tuchel admits he wants ‘a couple more’ signings.
The west Londoners are focused on defensive additions and are closing in on an agreement for Kounde, having failed in their bid to sign the 23-year-old last summer.
The Guardian are reporting that Chelsea want to sign two more centre-backs following the arrival of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Presnel Kimpembe and RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol also on the club’s radar.
Kounde, who has already agreed personal terms with the Blues, could be the next arrival amid reports Sevilla will accept a €60m fee for the France international. Barcelona, however, also remain interested in a deal.
Tuchel has discussed his desire to bring in further additions, following the arrivals of Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling.
“We need a couple more to improve the squad,” Tuchel told the media ahead of his side’s pre-season friendly with Charlotte.
“We finished third last season – there was a gap. If you want to keep your position you need to improve. You can never stand still. Other teams will overtake you. We’ve lost players.
“This is common sense. It’s the dream of every manager to find players from your own league who can adapt so easily. Raheem knows the habits of English clubs and has English team-mates here.
“This is common sense. It’s the dream of every manager to find players from your own league who can adapt so easily. Raheem knows the habits of English clubs and has English team-mates here.
“Kalidou (Koulibaly) knows Mendy from the national team and Jorginho was a big help from Napoli to make the process of integration faster. They are huge players for us. We need to speed things up.”
