Sevilla have left Jules Kounde out of their squad for a pre-season friendly this weekend as talk of a move to Chelsea ramps up.
The Frenchman’s current club head to the Algarve for matches against Sporting CP and Angers in preparation for the new season, and have confirmed a 31-man travelling party that does not feature Kounde.
Reports in Spain outline the player training alone while he nears a transfer away from the club.
Kounde is still recovering from a minor operation earlier in the summer and returned to training on Wednesday, partaking in a session alone in the Sevilla gym.
Standard Sport reported on Thursday morning Chelsea’s intention to offer £55million for the 23-year-old defender after months of talks between the two clubs.
Kounde agreed personal terms on a five-year contract last summer before the Blues were priced out of a deal, with Thomas Tuchel once again keen on the centre-back having lost both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Barcelona remain in the hunt too and are selling a portion of their merchandising business to fund their summer transfer dealings.
However, Sevilla would prefer selling their star man to Chelsea as to not reinforce a LaLiga rival - and reportedly expect the deal with the English side to go through unless Barcelona can beat their bid.
