Chelsea may end their interest in Kounde with Chalobah’s breakthrough

Jules Kounde

has been

’s key transfer target in the summer. The Blues offered £43m for the

centre-back but the La Liga side rejected the offer as they wanted the European Champions to pay the £68.5m release clause of the Frenchman.

Thomas Tuchel’s side did not agree to do so but they seemed interested in Kounde even after the transfer market closed.

Sevilla told the Blues that their prized asset wouldn’t come cheap and the Premier League side seem reluctant to pursue their interest now, courtesy of

Trevoh Chalobah

’s emergence this season.

The 22-year-old has pulled off impressive performances for the team this season. He appeared in 10 matches and met the target goals.

He was rewarded for his rich vein of form this week when he penned a new contract that will keep him until 2026.

With Chalobah’s breakthrough, Chelsea don’t need a centre-back from elsewhere.

“

I think every transfer period you need to evaluate again because you cannot say what we wanted in the summer we do in the winter or the next summer. It is not like this,"

he said.

“Your opinion changes, players change, you have evolvement in the group. You have atmosphere that you build, you see who is absolutely reliable and these connections build up and create something special, hopefully, in the group.

“So you cannot say what we tried in the summer did not happen so we will try again for sure in the winter. 

"Sometimes it is like this if we see the same need, but clearly Trevoh is now here with us and he deserves to be here with us. It had nothing to do with if we can sign another central defender or not.

“But he stepped up. The responsibility was even more on his shoulders and he can handle it so far in a very impressive way. This is the situation and it has an effect on our next decisions in the next transfer period. It is always like this.”

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