‘Guardiola Loved Me’: £42m Ace Admits Manchester City Wanted To Sign Him...CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Manchester City wanted to sign him
Barcelona defender Jules Kounde admits that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola tried to take him to the Premier League after a remarkable debut season at La Liga outfit Sevilla, speaking to El Pais.
The ‘curse of the ex’, they call it. When a former player comes back to haunt his old employers.
Kounde, during his first appearance against Sevilla since leaving the Andalusians in July, not only kept a clean sheet, he also set up two of Barcelona’s goals during a thumping 3-0 win at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan; a thumping 3-0 win even more lopsided than the scoreline suggests.
‘Curse of the ex’ indeed.
FC Barcelona v Viktoria Plzen: Group C – UEFA Champions League
At £42 million, the France international already feels like one of the best pound-for-pound signings of the summer window. Especially after Manchester City were being quoted around double that fee during the summer of 2020, Sevilla’s sporting director Monchi admitting that a ‘magnificent’ offer from the Etihad Stadium outfit had been turned down.
“Yes, in my first year in Seville, Guardiola called me,” Kounde recalls. “He told me he loved me and that he believed I would fit in with the way he played.
“I talked a lot about football with both (Guardiola and Barca boss Xavi). I realized that they had both seen me play and knew my abilities perfectly. They weren’t just talking: they were very precise conversations.”
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is a huge Jules Kounde fan
Manchester City would eventually sign Ruben Dias after giving up on Kounde. With two Premier League winners’ medals and the division’s Player of the Year award taking pride and place on his mantelpiece, that’s some consolation.
Kounde, one of the most complete central defenders on the continent, also missed out on a move to Chelsea before joining Barcelona two months ago. According to The Athletic, then-coach Thomas Tuchel did not share the board’s enthusiasm for the 23-year-old former Bordeaux starlet.
“Chelsea kept us locked in talks for the past month. Both us and the player reached a verbal agreement with them last Thursday,” Monchi explained in July.
“But at the last moment, when everything seemed to be sealed and agreed, Chelsea had a few doubts; if the type of player that they needed was actually a player like Jules Kounde or someone else.
“Chelsea then returned to the table. But, eventually, we accepted Barcelona’s bid because it was better than Chelsea’s. Eventually, we sold the player to a club which he is happy to go to, while Sevilla were able to get the best possible terms.”
