As Atlético Madrid edged to a 2-0 first-leg victory in the Champions League on Wednesday night, the hundreds of millions of Barcelona fans across the globe began to voice their displeasure and highlight the need for a complete summer rebuild. Such is the club’s weighty standard that, even after a domestic treble and a run to the Champions League semifinals, and even amid a season that saw them win the Supercopa de España and reach the Copa del Rey semifinals, Barcelona fans are already demanding change. Even with the club sitting seven points clear atop the LaLiga table with merely eight matches to go, even with the Blaugranas on track to become the first team in a decade to win back-to-back LaLiga titles, it seems that isn’t quite good enough.
It remains to be seen whether Barcelona are able to turn around the two-goal deficit next week and book their ticket to the semifinals, but it’s clear that plenty of changes are scheduled for the summer. Barcelona are still weighing up whether to trigger their purchase option on Marcus Rashford, while Robert Lewandowski and Andreas Christensen are expected to depart following the expiry of their contracts. A decision also needs to be made on loanee Joao Cancelo. Other players including Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati, and Marc-André ter Stegen could be on the chopping block as well. However, one player who should be considered off-limits with regards to a potential sale is Jules Koundé.
Born on November 12, 1998, Koundé was raised in Paris but got his start in professional football with Girondins de Bordeaux. Under the watchful eye of Gus Poyet, Koundé was able to make the step up from the youth team to the first team, managing four goals and one assist in 70 appearances, and eventually earning the interest of Sevilla, who signed him for €25 million. It didn’t take long for Koundé to justify that outlay, seamlessly adjusting from Ligue 1 to La Liga and spearheading Sevilla to the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League title. All things considered, Koundé scored nine goals and added three assists in 133 appearances during his time with the Andalusian outfit. It was enough to see Barcelona splurge €50 million on him in 2022, as well as agree to a stipulation that requires them to pay Sevilla €2.5 million for every season through 2026-27 where he makes an appearance of at least 45 minutes in 60% of the team’s games.
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“I remember going to Bordeaux, he had only played three matches before I arrived, and the first week of training, I saw straight away that Koundé would be an important player for me,” stated Poyet in an exclusive interview for Barça Blaugranes. “The thing that I like most about Jules is that he loves the sport. He loves basketball. He’s always looking to improve. We even had a training session in the afternoon, only him, me, and my assistant, because he wanted to train something in particular. When they called me from Sevilla to know about his personality, I couldn’t speak more highly of him. They knew the player, but they didn’t know the person, and he’s a top professional.
“Going to Sevilla was the perfect step to go to Barcelona. For me, I play Koundé at center back, but he’s playing more as a fullback now. But I think he can play there because he really likes to attack with the ball, even though his strength is in defending. He’s a very intelligent player, and it was very enjoyable to play with him. I was very lucky personally, and very unlucky professionally, to be able to face France in Euro 2024 qualifying during my time in charge of Greece. I was able to meet Jules and Aurélien [Tchouaméni] before the game in Paris, and it was a pleasure to spend five minutes with them talking about our time in Bordeaux…it was a great moment for me.”
It didn’t take long for Koundé to establish himself as Barcelona’s starting right back, offering consistency and clarity to a position that had been a weakness ever since Dani Alves’ departure. While it seemed that he was initially unhappy with playing outside his natural role of center back, Koundé has nevertheless been able to deliver a run of world-class performances on the right side of defense under Xavi. He’s managed to take his game up another level under Hansi Flick, bombing up and down the right flank and allowing Lamine Yamal to cut inside onto his stronger left foot, and whip in dangerous crosses when needed. Moreover, he’s also been able to shift into a makeshift center back role, keeping things tight at the back and bringing the ball out of the first third. And don’t forget that winner in the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid.
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Barcelona have come undone in recent years thanks to a number of high-profile errors and expulsions from center backs like Pau Cubarsí and Ronald Araújo, but as far as Koundé is concerned, these mistakes haven’t quite plagued his game. Despite playing in an incredibly high line, Koundé is able to push up and force opposing forwards offside as well as drop back when required and hold his own in 1v1 challenges. He constantly has his head on a swivel, waiting to shift his positioning or put on the afterburners when needed, and whilst he’s far from the tallest player, he’s nevertheless proven adept at sizing up opposing forwards in aerial duels.
The stats don’t lie: Koundé ranks second in Barcelona’s squad with 58.3 accurate passes per UEFA Champions League match (92% accuracy), as well as ranking joint-first for tackles per game (2.1) and second for interceptions per 90 (1.2). But perhaps the most crucial stat is his availability: he’s missed just 26 matches for club and country since joining Barcelona in 2022. In that same timeframe, he’s played 183 times for Barcelona. Whereas so many other Barcelona defenders like Alejandro Balde and Andreas Christensen are falling prey to injury on a regular basis, Koundé remains the Blaugranas’ Iron Man. It’s why Barcelona should not even be considering selling Koundé this summer: at 27, he’s still in the prime of his career, and he’s going to continue to deliver the highest caliber of performances for as long as he’s at Camp Nou.