Chelsea face Real Madrid off the pitch too as Spanish giants hunt La Liga star

Transfer News: Real Madrid enter the race for Chelsea target Jules Kounde

According to transfer news from Express, Real Madrid could go after Chelsea target Jules Kounde if Raphael Varane leaves. The Blancos defender is said to be close to a move to Manchester United which could see Real switch their attentions to Sevilla’s Kounde.

Rivals Manchester United are said to be after Varane and made him their top transfer target. Solskjaer is keen to add a world-class defender to partner Harry Maguire. Varane’s deal expires in 2022 and contract talks have not worked out with the defender wanting to take on a new challenge.

That has made Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane draw up contingency plans, and among that is Sevilla starlet Jules Kounde. He has made a name for himself in the short while he has been at Sevilla. He recently won the Europa League and was a huge part of that campaign.

Chelsea are looking at defensive options, with some players like Silva and Azpilicueta on the wrong end of their careers. Kounde is among the names being considered by the Blues and Tuchel. Adding a new defender became of priority with Tuchel switching to a back three.

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This interest from Real Madrid comes as a blow for Chelsea. He has a release clause of £68m, which has already put off several teams. The problem though is that Real Madrid have a history of buying players from Sevilla, with Ramos being the prime example and they could just do the same in the case of Kounde.