{"id":49908,"date":"2026-07-03T16:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/49908\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T16:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:27:14","slug":"liverpool-chelsea-on-alert-as-barcelona-sound-out-europes-elite-over-sale-of-top-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/49908\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool, Chelsea on alert as Barcelona sound out Europe’s elite over sale of top star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barcelona have begun testing the market for Jules Kounde<\/a> ahead of a possible summer departure, with TEAMtalk able to reveal that intermediaries have contacted virtually every major club in Europe to gauge interest in the France international.<\/p>\n

Kounde<\/a> endured an inconsistent campaign under Hansi Flick. While the 26-year-old remains a highly valued member of Barcelona<\/a>\u2018s squad, sources have told us the Catalan giants are assessing their options and are open to understanding what the market looks like before making any firm decisions.<\/p>\n

As part of that process, intermediaries have sounded out a host of Europe\u2019s biggest clubs.<\/p>\n

Chelsea<\/a> remain long-term admirers of Kounde and, despite already strengthening at right-back with the signing of Italian international Marco Palestra<\/a>, we understand the Blues have not ruled themselves out of the running.<\/p>\n

Liverpool<\/a> have also been informed of Kounde\u2019s potential availability and continue to hold an appreciation for the versatile defender, who is capable of operating both at right-back and in central defence.<\/p>\n

Arsenal<\/a> and Manchester City<\/a> have likewise been made aware of the situation.<\/p>\n

Both clubs are assessing the right-back market this summer and Kounde\u2019s name has featured prominently during those discussions as they weigh up possible additions.<\/p>\n

Manchester United<\/a> have also been contacted, although sources indicate Michael Carrick\u2019s side remain focused on strengthening at left-back<\/a> rather than pursuing another option on the opposite flank.<\/p>\n

Bayern Munich are another club to have been alerted to Kounde\u2019s situation and the Bundesliga champions are also considering whether to enter the market for a right-sided defender.<\/p>\n

However, we understand there are significant financial hurdles that make any deal complicated.<\/p>\n

DON\u2019T MISS: German journalist reveals what he\u2019s heard about Harry Kane decision on joining Barcelona from Bayern Munich<\/a><\/p>\n

Barca set firm stance over Kounde price<\/p>\n

Barcelona are believed to be seeking in excess of \u20ac50million (\u00a343m \/ $57m) for Kounde, a valuation that has not deterred interested clubs in isolation.<\/p>\n

The bigger stumbling block is the defender\u2019s salary.<\/p>\n

Sources indicate Kounde earns in excess of \u00a3200,000 per week, meaning any potential suitor would need to commit to a substantial overall financial package before agreeing a deal.<\/p>\n

That combination of transfer fee and wages is expected to narrow the field of realistic contenders.<\/p>\n

TEAMtalk can also reveal that Barcelona are currently viewed as more likely to sanction the departure of Ronald Araujo<\/a> than Kounde.<\/p>\n

The Uruguay international continues to attract interest across Europe and would represent a cheaper overall investment for prospective buyers, both in terms of transfer fee and salary.<\/p>\n

For now, Barcelona\u2019s priority is simply to establish the level of interest in Kounde before deciding whether to actively pursue a sale.<\/p>\n

Want more breaking news and transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google <\/a>to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona have begun testing the market for Jules Kounde ahead of a possible summer departure, with TEAMtalk able…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1706,366,92,942,5017,1707,548,1818,4298,100,2691,1708],"class_list":["post-49908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-all-the-news","tag-arsenal","tag-barcelona","tag-chelsea","tag-exclusives","tag-front-page","tag-jules-kounde","tag-liverpool","tag-popular","tag-premier-league","tag-spanish-la-liga","tag-transfer-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}