{"id":69727,"date":"2026-08-12T18:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/69727\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T18:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:19:14","slug":"exit-linked-barcelona-defender-could-return-to-his-original-position-this-season-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/69727\/","title":{"rendered":"Exit-linked Barcelona defender could return to his original position this season &#8211; report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The future of Jules Kounde has become a subject of much discussion soon after his return to the Barcelona camp, after an extended summer break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The right-back was a part of the French team that reached the semifinal in the World Cup. And as he gears up for the season ahead, he has been linked with a move away from Camp Nou.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Fabrizio Romano has revealed that <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/arsenal-yet-to-make-any-concrete-advances-to-sign-barcelona-defender-despite-interest-romano\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Kounde\u2019s exit is not on the anvil right now<\/a>, despite the player being linked with a move to Arsenal lately. In fact, the defender may have a change of roles this coming season.<\/p>\n<p>Kounde to return to centre-back?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundodeportivo.com\/futbol\/fc-barcelona\/20260812\/1004215449\/agente-kounde-ciutat-esportiva.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Mundo Deportivo<\/a>, Barcelona have \u2018accepted\u2019 that Kounde can operate as a centre-back in the coming season.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/real-oviedo-v-fc-barcelona-laliga-ea-sports-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Jules Kounde of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-208650\"  \/>Kounde may have to play a more versatile role in defence this season. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is major departure from the last few seasons that has seen the Frenchman operate in a right-back role, even becoming the club\u2019s number one choice in the position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last season, however, Kounde\u2019s performances were far from consistent. And keeping that in mind, Hansi Flick could consider him an option in the centre-back role, which used to be his original position. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kounde is likely to be considered as an alternative for Ronald Araujo, who left the club to join Liverpool on a season-long loan deal.<\/p>\n<p>Why Kounde at centre-back make sense<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fc-barcelona-v-atletico-de-madrid-uefa-champions-league-2025-26-quarter-final-first-leg-1-2-1024x683.webp\" alt=\"Jules Kounde of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-208651\"  \/>Kounde\u2019s long-term future remains doubtful. (Photo by Eric Alonso\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Apart from the obvious Araujo angle, Barcelona do require someone like Kounde operating at centre-back rather than right-back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For one, the Catalans are well stacked in right-back now, with Joao Cancelo expected to join and <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/hansi-flick-impressed-by-19-year-old-starlet-as-barcelona-begin-contract-renewal-talks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Xavi Espart impressing Hansi Flick<\/a> during pre-season. Eric Garcia, too, has done well whenever he has deputised for the role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Considering the fact that Kounde himself has struggled with consistency lately, a centre-back role could be a much more logical option for the Frenchman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That being said, Kounde\u2019s nature as a right-footed defender means the former Sevilla star will not become a starter, if he is indeed considered a centre-back. That is because he will compete directly with Pau Cubarsi rather than being a partner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the left-sided centre-back role, Flick has a clear option in Gerard Martin, with Alvaro Cortes likely to serve as an alternative, provided he stays at the club and Barcelona fail to sign a new centre-back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The future of Jules Kounde has become a subject of much discussion soon after his return to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,930,548],"class_list":["post-69727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-hansi-flick","tag-jules-kounde"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69727","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=69727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}