Chelsea still keen on Kounde as Chalobah gives cause for rethink

Chelsea remain interested in Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, despite Trevoh Chalobah prompting the club into a rethink over his future.

Chalobah had been set to go out on loan, but head coach Thomas Tuchel has told the 22-year-old, who can play in defence or midfield, that he would like to keep him at Stamford Bridge following impressive performances against Villarreal in the Super Cup and Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Following his goalscoring performance in the 3-0 victory against Palace, Chalobah will hope to keep his place against Arsenal at the Emirates tomorrow and it is likely that Chelsea will look to extend his contract. But the club have not ruled out Kounde to add to Tuchel’s defensive options.

Chelsea want to sell a defender before committing to making a firm bid for Kounde, with Kurt Zouma still the most likely of the first-team centre-backs to be sold before the transfer window shuts.

Tottenham Hotspur are one of the clubs interested in Zouma, but they too must offload a defender to bring one in and Sevilla’s interest in Davinson Sanchez is dependent on the future of Kounde.

Captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva and Andreas Christensen are all in the final year of their Chelsea contracts. Although the club would like to extend Christensen’s deal and will hold talks with Rudiger, the interest in Kounde, 22, is with one eye on the future as well as the present.

Although predominantly a rightsided centre-back, Kounde can also play at right-back and would appear to be a natural successor to Azpilicueta, 31, who can also play in both of those positions.

Tuchel has been keen to strengthen the right side of his defence and Kounde would potentially solve two issues if Chelsea can sell a defender in time to make an offer to Sevilla.

Sevilla have so far demanded that Kounde’s £68million release clause will have to be met to prompt his sale, with reports in Spain claiming that figure could increase towards the end of the month.

Chelsea are not actively chasing a midfield signing, with West Ham United valuing Declan Rice at £100million, but could make a late move in that position if an opportunity presents itself.

Monaco’s Aurelien Tchouameni is a player of interest to the club, while Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez is being offered to English teams.

Monaco lost 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Shakhtar Donetsk and the result of the second leg, on Wednesday, could go some way to determining the future of 21-year-old Tchouameni, who has also been tracked by Manchester United.