Barcelona mirroring Raphinha deal with French centre-back, will send €45 million offer | OneFootball

After reaching an agreement with Leeds United to sign Raphinha in a deal worth €60 million, Barcelona are ready to turn their attention towards landing priority centre-back target Jules Kounde.

All had appeared lost for Barcelona in the race for Raphinha, as Chelsea seemed primed to land the 25-year-old winger. However, the player wanted a move to Camp Nou, which eventually forced Leeds United to alter their stance and accept Barça’s proposal.

As per the update from Gerard Romero, who broke the news about the agreement, the Catalan giants will be paying €60 million for Raphinha. But the fees will be paid in three separate instalments.

And Romero is now claiming that Barcelona will try to strike a similar deal with Sevilla for Jules Kounde this summer.

The 23-year-old French defender has emerged as one of the priority targets for manager Xavi Hernandez, who remains intent on signing another centre-back despite the impending arrival of Andreas Christensen.

With Gerard Pique set for a reduced role in the squad and the French duo of Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti on their way out, it makes sense for Barça to add another centre-half to the roster.

However, Kounde’s asking price has proven to be a major hurdle for Barcelona. But, as per the update from Romero, the Catalan heavyweights will start negotiating with Sevilla over a potential deal worth around €45 million.

As iterated earlier, Barça plan to pay the fee over multiple instalments, like with the Raphinha deal. They are now waiting to see if Sevilla are willing to accept such a proposal so that talks over the transfer can resume.

Kounde, like Raphinha, was also on the radars of Chelsea. However, the Blues have moved on to other targets, which should leave the path clear for Barcelona to make their move.