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Manchester City were near-desperate to sign another central defender during the last window, even after adding Nathan Ake.

They spent what felt like months working with intermediaries to take Kalidou Koulibaly away from Napoli, and when that became a deal too difficult complete, they quickly moved on.

Next on the agenda was Jules Kounde at Sevilla, with the Spanish media bringing reports of at least one offer from the Premier League club. Monchi, Sevilla’s sporting director, later confirmed the bid, thought to be around €55m, and explained a decision was made to keep the defender, believing he may be worth even more in the future.

Monchi made a point of praising Kounde and his behaviour during the mini-saga, when he didn’t try to force a move to Manchester City.

Now the player has spoken himself, in a chat with Canal Football Club on French TV. Spanish newspaper AS quote him as saying: “Yes, I spoke with Guardiola on the phone. We did it in Spanish. It went well and I was interested in going there, I had guarantees to play. But in the end it didn’t happen.”

Kounde’s chance of signing for Guardiola may now have gone, given Manchester City went on to sign Ruben Dias from Benfica.