Back in September, when Manchester City were strong in the race for Sevilla defender Jules Koundé, the Spanish club confirmed they’d rejected an offer for him.
Director Monchi said the bid was evaluated and turned down by the La Liga side, and also doubted that the player had reached a personal agreement with any other club.
Now Koundé’s agent Jonathan Kebe was interviewed by local Sevilla outlet ABC, and had a lot to say about the 21-year-old’s situation.
He confirmed that Manchester City tried to sign him during the summer transfer window, but claims it wasn’t ‘the right time’ to make the move away from Sevilla.
“Any footballer likes to talk about his game. Of course it is a compliment that a club as important as Manchester City is interested in you,” Jonathan Kebe told ABC.
“But Koundé is a different boy in some ways. Despite his age, he’s a very mature person, who knows that the only thing that should concern him is day to day.
“Pressure Sevilla to have gone to Manchester City? No, no. We don’t even talk about it. There was an offer, the club studied it, said ‘no’, and that’s it. There’s no more.”
The agent made it clear that Sevilla had a big part in blocking the move, but doesn’t see it as a problem.
“We will never leave if Sevilla don’t want us to. Sometimes a player’s future depends on three parties, the footballer himself, the club who wants to buy, and, of course, the club he’s owned by. There is Sevilla.
“We know perfectly well, as I mentioned, the bet that the club made a year ago for Koundé. We appreciate the affection of the people, Fernando Navarro, of Monchi, who was the first to trust Koundé.”
After giving up on Koundé, Manchester City were linked to several defenders, and ended up signing Ruben Dias from Benfica in a €68m deal. They had already signed Nathan Aké from Bournemouth for €45m.
