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Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are pursuing Barcelona’s Jules Koundé this summer.
Two days ago, Koundé’s agent Jonathan Kebe was at the Catalan club’s training centre, a day after the Gunners’ links.
Liverpool and Manchester City have joined Arsenal in showing interest in the defender.
Premier League trio keen
Friday’s print edition of Mundo Deportivo mentions the three English clubs when covering the latest on the 27-year-old.
After the summer break, the France international returned to his club earlier this week.
With a contract until 2030, he isn’t considering leaving this summer. However, the right-back, who can also operate as a centre-back, lost prominence towards the end of last season.
Jules Koundé wants to know whether he can enjoy regular minutes under Hansi Flick, who has Eric García as his first choice right-back. The manager could consider him as a centre-back given Ronald Araújo’s loan to Liverpool.
Barcelona, for their part, aren’t ruling out a sale for a substantial fee, provided he wants to leave. These developments are taking place with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are all keen.
Arsenal ahead of Liverpool and Manchester City
Sport were the first to report about the Premier League winners’ interest. Friday’s print edition of the newspaper states Jules Koundé has a meeting scheduled with Hansi Flick.
The report states: ‘The Frenchman is on the market, and Barca aren’t hiding the fact that they would let him go if a good offer came in for all parties. He’s no longer a strategic player for the Blaugrana club, but there won’t be any move unless the player makes a move.’
The former Sevilla is unlikely to be a starter next season, and Flick could make it clear to him during the meeting.
The Frenchman has options, especially in England, where a few clubs are keen. Among them, Arsenal are the ‘most interested’.
Mikel Arteta’s side would be ‘willing to pay a hefty transfer fee’. Bayern Munich are also in the picture and have to offload players before making advances.
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