Jules Kounde has warned Xavi that he has not come to Barcelona to play at centre-back, according to a report in Spain.
A centre-back by trade, the 23-year-old spent time on the right side of the defence at former club Sevilla and has joined a Barcelona side who already appear to have a surplus at centre-back, where Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique and Eric Garcia already vying for minutes there.
Xavi has already spoken of a need to bolster at right-back, having benched Sergino Dest in favour of using Araujo out wide during the season-opening draw against Rayo Vallecano, and AS state Kounde has already made it clear he won’t be playing there.
Kounde is said to have warned Xavi that he does not want to be used at right-back at Barcelona and he intends to see regular minutes at centre-back once he recovers from the injury which has delayed his league debut for his new side.
It is even speculated that Kounde’s decision to snub Chelsea’s interest was because Blues boss Thomas Tuchel refused to rule out using the Frenchman at right-back in place of Reece James, whereas Xavi was happy to agree to his demand.
Kounde is said to be happy to play at right-back occasionally if there is a major hole in the squad, but he does not want regular minutes outside of centre-back as he wants to prove he can play there on the international stage with France as well.
As a result, Xavi continues to search for a new right-back. He had hoped to sign Cesar Azpilicueta but missed out on the Spaniard as he inked a new two-year contract with Chelsea instead.
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