Although FC Barcelona have started the 2026-27 season in blazing fashion, this new campaign has not entirely been good for all the Blaugrana players. Several of these players have lost prominence in Hansi Flick’s plans, and are facing obscurity on the pitch.
This is specifically the case with the defender Jules Kounde, who did not play even a single minute in the last three games for the Catalan club. Before that, he had started only the games against Feyenoord and Rayo Vallecano, and came on from the bench in the other games played so far.
In such a context, there was reason to believe that the September international break would be a good opportunity for him to get back on the pitch and regain his form. In fact, things started well with the France national team, as the new coach, Zinedine Zidane, named him as one of the captains, and started him on the right-back position for the opening game of his stint on the national team bench, against Turkiye.
However, as [Mundo Deportivo](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/fc-barcelona/20261002/1004233965/zidane-no-reanima-kounde-minutos-vez.html) has noted, his situation has actually not improved a lot with the French national team either. After the match against Turkiye, the Frenchman returned to the bench, as he remained an unused substitute for the ensuing two games against Belgium and Italy.
The Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu took his starting spot for these two games, and the last game of this break for France, against Belgium on Monday, will provide a good indication of whether Zidane has lost faith in Kounde for good, or whether he is going to balance game time between the Barcelona defender and Kalulu.
During the last summer transfer window, [Jules Kounde was regularly linked with a move away from Barcelona](https://barcanewsnetwork.com/kounde-remains-determined-to-stay-at-barcelona-despite-transfer-interest/). Ultimately, he ended up staying, but with his current situation, one can reasonably expect him to consider a move away in the coming months, especially as he is not getting a lot of minutes, with either of his teams.