Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has made his first ‘big mistake’ at the west London club after failing to beat Barcelona to a deal for Jules Kounde.
This claim was made by former Chelsea defender, William Gallas, who has bemoaned Chelsea’s failure to sign the 23-year-old defender and the Blues’ transfer strategy in general.
Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel was keen to welcome Kounde to his squad this summer, but Barcelona confirmed last week they had signed the French star for €50 million.
“I do find it hard to understand what’s happening at Chelsea in terms of the defensive recruitments,” Gallas told Genting Casino.
“I feel they should’ve signed Kounde from Sevilla! I know they were very close to signing him and I think they’ve made a big mistake by not getting that deal done.
“The board was really close to getting him signed, but it seems they took too long. They took too long for a player of his quality and you can’t do this with a player like Kounde after the season he just had. He was magnificent last season.
“Chelsea needs players of Kounde’s quality. Azpi is getting older and maybe he has an opportunity to go to Barcelona.”
He added, “He was a great captain, so now they need to find young defenders who have the quality to play in the Premier League and Kounde was one of the players who would fit and you let him go to Barcelona? ‘That shouldn’t be possible.”
