“He called me” – Jules Kounde reveals Guardiola almost convinced him to join Man City

Barcelona defender Jules Kounde spoke to Pep Guardiola about the prospect of joining Manchester City, the defender has revealed.

The Catalan club paid a fee in the region of €55million to sign the French defender from Sevilla in August.

Chelsea were very keen on signing the 23-year-old and agreed personal terms with him last year, but did not meet Sevilla’s asking price.

He was again linked with a move to west London in the summer transfer window. The Blues looked like they were leading the race to complete the signing, however, Barcelona swooped in and hijacked the deal.

Kounde was not on the agenda for Manchester City this summer, but the Frenchman has revealed that Pep Guardiola did discuss a move to the Etihad back in 2020.

“Yes, in my first year at Sevilla he called me,” he told El Pais. “He told me that he loved me and that he thought I would fit the way he played.”

“I talked a lot about football with both of them [Xavi and Guardiola],” added Kounde. “And that’s what I like. The first thing, in the conversations I had with them, I realised that they had both seen me play. They knew my capabilities perfectly. They didn’t talk just to talk. They were very precise conversations.

These Kounde’s comments were shared on Twitter by City Xtra and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters.

We don’t care, we have father Ruben pic.twitter.com/w7bM5gFBoh

— Isaac🪄 (@IsaacMCFC_) September 12, 2022

“Thank God we got Ruben”
Credit: @josephorendo93

“Ruben is better than you”
Credit: @DeadlyHaaland9

“Would like him at city, but I think Dias is better.”
Credit: @Dupemcfc111

“Don’t care he’s mid”
Credit: @cityprop786

“Would be our 6th choice”
Credit: @KRG_mcfc