Jules Kounde to miss Barcelona's La Liga game vs Real Sociedad with Frenchman still unable to be registered
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Published 21/08/2022 at 15:30 GMT
Barcelona have still not been able to register defender Jules Kounde, who only joined the club from Sevilla in July for a reported £46 million. Fellow new signings Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have been registered, but the club still need to raise funds in order to confirm Kounde. As a result, he will not make the trip to Real Sociedad.
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Barcelona defender Jules Kounde will not be involved in his side’s La Liga clash with Real Sociedad on Sunday night as he has still not been registered by the club.
Kounde joined Barcelona from Sevilla in July in a deal reported to be worth £46 million, but the 23-year-old is still awaiting the opportunity to make his competitive debut for the club, with the Catalan giants unable to register him in the league.
Fellow new signings Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have been registered, but the club still need to raise funds in order to confirm Kounde.
At his pre-match press conference, Barcelona boss Xavi said that he is unsure of what is happening with the France defender's situation.
"At the moment, we don't know anything. We are on standby," Xavi said.
The Blaugrana boss is, however, backing Kounde to show his quality when he can finally feature for his new club.
"We are waiting. Kounde is a great leader and a great player. Hopefully he shows it soon," Xavi said.
"He has trained very well, I see him in good spirits, but we need to sell players to be able to register him."
One of the departures that might enable the official arrival of Kounde is that of fellow French defender Samuel Umtiti, who is rumoured to be on his way to Serie A side Lecce.
Forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Memphis Depay have also been strongly linked with exits but both players have been included in the squad for the trip to Sociedad.
"The transfer market ends on 31 August and we don't know what will happen,” Xavi said.
"Auba and Memphis are still here, so tomorrow we will use them. But the priority is to register Kounde."
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