Barcelona has reached an agreement to sign France defender Jules Koundé on a transfer from Sevilla, the Catalan club said Thursday.
The 23-year-old center back is expected to sign a contract
after completing a medical exam, the team said.
Barcelona has not disclosed the length of the contract or
the transfer fee it is paying Sevilla for the services of Koundé, who had also
drawn interest from Chelsea.
Koundé would be Barcelona’s third major signing after it
sold 25% of its Spanish league television rights for the next 25 years as it
tries to both claw its way out of staggering debt and rebuild a competitive
team after winning nothing last season.
Already this month it secured the transfers of striker
Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich and winger Raphinha from Leeds for around
a combined 110 million euros ($111 million).
Koundé, both fast in defense and an attacking threat on set
pieces, has been considered one of the most promising young players at his
position in the Spanish league since joining Sevilla in 2019 for 25 million
euros ($25.4 million) from French club Bordeaux.
Barcelona has also added midfielder Franck Kessie and
defender Andreas Christensen, who arrived as free agents this offseason, in
addition to signing Ousmane Dembélé to a new contract.-AP