Sevilla captain Ivan Rakitic has admitted he will have to speak with Jules Koundé following his failed move to Chelsea.
The French centre-back was heavily linked with the Blues all summer, with it made clear the Premier League side were keen on him.
At one point, it appeared negotiations had reached an advanced stage, and a move was likely, particularly when Chelsea sold Kurt Zouma to West Ham.
However, a move never happened, with Sevilla instead insisting that the Blues match the defender’s release clause if they were to sell late in the window.
Chelsea refused to pay such a price, and so Koundé remained in Spain for the foreseeable future, something he’s unlikely to be happy about.
Indeed, it’s already been suggested it’s affecting him mentally, especially after he saw red in France’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina last night.
It seems the failed move is one he’ll need time to get over, and his current captain plans to help in any way he can.
“Hopefully when he comes back from his national team we can have a moment to talk, sincerely, so that he knows that he has our confidence, that we are his second family,” El Desmarque report him saying.
“He is very important for us. The first thing we need is that he feels at ease, that he is at his best and that he knows that everything we do, we do it together”.
“It doesn’t help him now to be with his head down, sad or angry. He has to lift his spirits. It doesn’t help Koundé to be down in the dumps, sad or angry now.
“He is in a big club, Sevilla is a big club, and if he does well, he will come back again. In football, everything goes very fast.
“It will be a very important season for him; he knows that. He has a lot of quality, and I don’t worry about that. Let him be comfortable; let him feel the confidence and affection from us.”
