Sevilla are furious with Jules Kounde for putting a £69million move to Chelsea under threat after the defender was forced to have surgery on an issue that flared up international duty.
Thomas Tuchel has identified Kounde as his preferred choice to replace Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, who have both left the club on free transfers.
Chelsea were intent on signing Kounde last summer but their options in defence meant the Blues felt compelled to negotiate for the Frenchman, rather than paying his £69m release clause.
The Blues have no such luxury this time around and they had been prepared to trigger Kounde’s release clause in order to sign the defender in time for pre-season.
But Kounde underwent surgery on Tuesday to solve a long-standing pelvic problem and he now faces a race against time to be fit in time for the start of the season.
According to the Sun, Sevilla are furious that Kounde exacerbated the problem on international duty with France and they believe the defender has put a £69m windfall at risk by threatening his move to Chelsea.
The cash-strapped Spaniards remain hopeful that Chelsea will still pay the release clause but it could depend on how Kounde recovers.
Chelsea return to pre-season training on July 2nd, with Tuchel keen on getting as many of his signings in before then as possible.
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