Kounde Close To Leaving FC Barcelona Following Real Sociedad Squad Snub

FC Barcelona defender Jules Kounde is edging closer to leaving the club after being left out of Xavi Hernandez’s squad that will take on Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday.

The French international only joined the Blaugrana around three weeks ago from Sevilla as part of a transfer that cost €55mn ($55.8mn).

Penning a five-year contract, the 23-year-old famously snubbed Chelsea by waiting for the Catalans to make a dramatic last-gasp approach for him despite his old club having already accepted an offer from the west Londoners.

Not even a month on, however, Kounde could be getting closer to already leaving Barca without having played an official game for them due to still not being registered yet.

On Sunday morning, it was announced that he had again been left out of Xavi’s squad which will travel to Anoeta to face Real Sociedad this evening with a special clause in his contract paving the way for the promising central defender to make a premature exit.

Also having to sit out the Blaugrana’s 0-0 season opener against Rayo Vallecano, Kounde can rescind his contract if not registered by August 31 as confirmed by the Que T’hi Jugues program in Catalonia in recent days.

In a chain of events that would trigger a fresh crisis at Camp Nou, Barca would even have to pay Sevilla an extra €2.5mn ($2.51 mn) for the mishap, and there are now just 10 days to resolve the matter.

Central to tying up the loose ends to register Kounde is offloading players that don’t feature in Xavi’s plans, with the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Riqui Puig having already moved on.

Others, such as Martin Braithwaite, are currently in conflict with president Joan Laporta and his board for hanging around when no longer wanted.

In the case of Frenkie de Jong, he neither wants to join Manchester United nor accept a 50% pay cut to continue plying his trade for his current employers.

Despite these administrative wrangles, Kounde has played some minutes for Barca such as when he had a cameo in the 6-0 win over Pumas UNAM in the Joan Gamper trophy a fortnight ago.

According to SPORT, the 2022 World Cup hopeful is “annoyed with his situation” but hopes to run out against Valladolid at home next weekend.