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After securing a €40m (£34m) deal for Kalidou Koulibaly over the weekend, Thomas Tuchel has been keen for Chelsea to bring in another experienced central defender.
Kounde was wanted by Chelsea last summer but pulled out in the closing stages of the window after Sevilla raised their asking price.
According to The Sun, Chelsea have now agreed to pay £51m plus £4m in add-ons to bring Kounde to Stamford Bridge.
The report claims that Kounde has already agreed personal terms with Chelsea and the France international is due to undergo a medical within the next 48 hours.
Barcelona have also been interested in a move for Kounde but the Spanish club have not submitted an official offer to Sevilla, which has allowed Chelsea to move in.
Kounde will now become Chelsea’s third major signing of the summer following the arrivals of Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling.
Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, Tuchel urged Chelsea’s hierarchy to strengthen the squad in order to ensure that they do not lose ground with Liverpool and Manchester City.
‘I think we need a couple more players in to improve the squad,’ said Tuchel.
‘We came third last season, we can discuss endlessly the reasons but there was a gap between us, Manchester City and Liverpool.
‘In general, if you want to keep your position, if you want to fight for the same position you need to improve, you can never stand still.
‘If you stand still, other teams will overtake you.
‘So given the situation that we’ve even lost players, for me it’s common sense that we need to bring new quality to the team, to maintain our level, not even speak about improving our level.
‘This is the situation where we are right now, it’s always the dream of every manager I think that you find players within their own league who can adapt quicker than other players. But it’s also a very individual process.’
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