Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic has had his say on Jules Kounde’s potential Chelsea transfer as he highlighted Premier League clubs’ superior spending power in the transfer market.
Recent reports suggest that the Blues are confident that they are leading the race to sign Kounde despite competition from Barcelona.
The 23-year-old centre-back has reportedly also agreed a five-year deal with Chelsea and is expected to complete a £55million deal very soon.
Kounde’s decision to fly to Lagos, Portugal, to be with his Sevilla teammates for their pre-season despite the potential move certainly raised some questions, but Rakitic admitted that everyone at the club is aware of the situation.
“We talked to him to give him a sense of normality. He needs some nonsense from us,” the Croatian midfielder told Mediaset and El Desmarque.
“We are grateful that he wanted to join us [in Portugal], we all know what his situation is like, we don’t have to be very clever, so we have to give him all our love.
“It’s simple… if he stays, great, and if he doesn’t, someone else will come. There is no problem at all.
“We handle him with a lot of affection, no problem, and the days he is here he knows that we love him very much.”
When speaking about Diego Carlos’ move to Aston Villa, Rakitic added: “It’s normal that we can’t compete with the same strength as the Premier League or teams that have that strength in their pockets.
“Understand that, there is no problem at all. You have to understand that Sevilla have always been like that.”
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