BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona officially
presented center back
Jules Kounde on Monday, with the French international
declaring he was happy to join an ambitious club.
اضافة اعلان
“I’m very happy, very proud. I’m coming to a big
club, an ambitious club, and I’m also coming with ambition,” the 23-year-old
said at his first press conference as a Barcelona player on Monday afternoon at
the Catalan club’s training center.
According to the Spanish press, Barca paid Sevilla
50 million euros, with 10 million in bonuses, for Kounde who has signed a
five-year contract.
He had also been linked to Premier League club
Chelsea.
“It’s true that I had another offer but I made the
effort to wait for Barca to reach an agreement with Sevilla,” said Kounde.
“When I saw that it was possible, I chose Barca because
I knew very clearly where I wanted to go.”
“It wasn’t a big decision, because I wanted to come
here.”
Kounde joined Sevilla from Bordeaux in 2019 and said
his “knowledge of La Liga will make it easier to adapt”.
“The most important thing will be to adapt to the
Barca style,” he added.
Kounde said he had been talking to Barcelona coach
Xavi for several weeks.
“From the start I felt the kindness of the coach, I
felt that he wanted me to come. That was one of the keys, because it’s one of
the most important steps in my career,” he said.
“He asked me to continue doing what I was doing at
Sevilla: being aggressive, getting the ball out of our own half.”
The Frenchman faces competition for a starting place
from Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, and Danish recruit Andreas
Christensen.
“It’s true that there is competition, but it’s good
for the team,” he said.
“The coach will decide, I’m not worried about that.
Here I will have to grow up, because I am still young, and help the team at all
times. I will take the competition as a challenge.”
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