{"id":57518,"date":"2026-07-19T12:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T12:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/57518\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T12:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T12:08:19","slug":"barcelona-defender-finally-responds-to-exit-speculation-what-i-hope-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/57518\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona defender finally responds to exit speculation: &#8216;What I hope is&#8230;&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jules Kounde has offered the clearest indication that he expects to remain at Barcelona next season, with the French defender focusing entirely on his ambitions at the club despite ongoing transfer speculation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-star-jules-kounde-questions-need-for-world-cup-third-place-play-off-the-match-shouldnt-have-been-played\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Speaking after France\u2019s defeat to England<\/a> in the FIFA World Cup third-place play-off, Kounde was asked about his future but did not refer to the possibility of leaving Camp Nou.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, the Barcelona defender spoke exclusively about returning stronger and helping Hansi Flick\u2019s side enjoy another successful campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Kounde makes his Barcelona intentions clear<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the conclusion of France\u2019s World Cup campaign, Kounde was asked what he hopes for in the months ahead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than addressing the <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-defender-emerges-on-bayern-munich-shortlist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">transfer rumours surrounding his future<\/a>, the defender shifted the conversation towards Barcelona and his objectives for next season.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/france-v-spain-semi-final-fifa-world-cup-2026-27-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Jules Kounde, France and Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-206254\"  \/>Jules Kounde is committed to Barcelona. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sport.es\/es\/noticias\/barca\/kounde-piensa-barca-132595914\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SPORT<\/a>, he said, \u201cWhat I hope is to have a great season, to rest well first so I can come back stronger, to have an even better season and to help Bar\u00e7a as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona remain open to offers, but only on their terms<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Kounde\u2019s comments confirmed his desire to continue at Barcelona, the club\u2019s position is understood to be more nuanced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defender is under contract until 2030 and is highly valued by both Flick and the sporting department. However, Barcelona are also aware of the financial realities they are facing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The club is expected to generate significant income through player sales if the right opportunities arise, meaning no player is considered completely untouchable.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"742\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784462899_437_france-v-spain-semi-final-fifa-world-cup-2026-6-1-1024x742.jpg\" alt=\"Jules Kounde of France\" class=\"wp-image-205839\"  \/>Kounde does not want to leave Barcelona despite market rumours. (Photo by Shaun Botterill\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That said, Barcelona have no intention of allowing Kounde to leave for a reduced fee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given his consistent performances and reputation as one of the world\u2019s top defenders, the sporting management would only consider negotiating if an offer reflected his quality and market value.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On that note, reports suggest Barcelona would expect <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-will-consider-offers-of-e50-60-million-for-defender-amid-bayern-munich-interest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">proposals in the region of \u20ac50-60 million<\/a> before seriously discussing a transfer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As things stand, however, no such offer has arrived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jules Kounde has offered the clearest indication that he expects to remain at Barcelona next season, with the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,223,548],"class_list":["post-57518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-jules-kounde"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57518","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=57518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}