Of all the big moves to happen this summer, the one that didn’t happen but really should have was Jules Koundé to Chelsea.
The Blues were seemingly very keen on the Frenchman, and once they sold Kurt Zouma to West Ham, it seemed inevitable that Koundé would be arriving at Stamford Bridge.
Instead, they couldn’t get a deal done with Sevilla, and Koundé has ended up staying in Spain for at least another year.
It’s easy to imagine he’s not very happy with that, particularly given he had a deal in place with Chelsea for the best part of the last month.
He’ll need to knuckle down and work hard if he’s to move in January or next summer, but things have not got off to a good start, with a red card in France’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina less than ideal.
That result saw him criticised in France, with L’Equipe even speculating that the whole Chelsea transfer saga may have ‘polluted’ his mind.
Mundo Deportivo also pick up on that thread and say Koundé is ‘beside himself’ after the failed move to Stamford Bridge.
They explain that he had ‘dreamed of taking a big step’ with the proposed move, and the failure to get it done does not seem to have gone down well.
Indeed, he is ‘showing signs’ of being ‘a little off balance’ after the saga, and his red card last night was a perfect example of that.
They advise the Frenchman he will have to ‘assimilate the situation’ and ‘accept the decision of his club’ who deemed a €50m offer from Chelsea ‘insufficient’.
As far as they are concerned, his ‘attitude’ has already cost his nation team two points, and that is something that he really doesn’t want to turn into a habit.
In other words, Koundé needs to get his head screwed on straight, with the failed move to Chelsea seemingly already causing issues.
