Sevilla president Jose Castro has revealed he could have wiped out the club’s debts this year if he’d elected to accept Chelsea’s offer for Jules Koundé.
As we’re sure you’re aware, the Blues chased the French centre-back for much of the summer, with Thomas Tuchel keen to add in that area.
They surprisingly failed to get their man, though, as negotiations with Sevilla regularly hit the buffers due to the Spanish side’s demands not being met.
They were insistent that any interested parties in Koundé pay close to his release clause, something Chelsea were not interested in doing.
Thus a move never happened, leaving Koundé at Sevilla for the time being and Chelsea looking elsewhere.
It was a bold move from the La Liga side to stick to their guns and one that was even braver than most people realise, according to their president.
“We are the second team with the highest salary cap capacity,” Diario de Sevilla report him saying.
“It is clear to that we are coming out of a pandemic, and this year, there was no other option but to give a negative financial result. There have been no season tickets, no tickets and no bars. Marketing and television have suffered.
“Even so, with Chelsea’s offer of €50m, the deficit was over. That speaks of the strength of the club.
“I don’t know how many teams in Spain would say no to €50m from Chelsea and maintain this deficit, considering that the squad is worth €400m.
“The deficit comes from the pandemic, but also from choosing to build a stronger squad rather than sell in the last two markets. That’s called ambition, and sometimes to have ambition you have to have a deficit. It’s OK.”
