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Earlier today, amid the strong rumours of Sevilla’s negotiations with Chelsea for the transfer of Jules Kounde, reports emerged in the Spanish media claiming the player was left-out of the club’s pre-season squad.

The team was travelling today to Lagos, in Portugal, and when manager Julen Lopetegui released the list of footballers who’d travel, the defender was left out. So local reports claimed that was a clear sign that his departure was getting closer.

However, we now get a big twist in this story, as Kounde insisted on boarding the bus.

Mucho Deporte explains that the player did not want to stay alone at Sevilla’s training centre. So he asked to travel and ended up on the way to Portugal with the squad.

That doesn’t mean there was a setback in the negotiations, as the story claims the twist doesn’t affect his move. In fact, they say an agreement with Chelsea is ‘close’, despite not being finished yet.

The outlet points out that Barcelona continue to be in the race, trying to make the defender wait for them while they buy time to make the operation possible.

Mucho Deporte insists that Kounde ‘should head to London sooner or later’, as Chelsea continue to be near an agreement with Sevilla, who want €65m from the sale.