Jules Kounde revealed Pep Guardiola’s phone call to persuade him to join Manchester City over Barcelona after Chelsea move collapsed.
Jules Kounde, a center back for Barcelona, has admitted that Pep Guardiola called him during a prior summer transfer window.
Manchester City has been at the center of some of the hottest transfer sagas over the last few of seasons.
They most recently became entangled with FC Barcelona and Bernardo Silva’s future as a result of that.
The possibility of relocating to the Catalan sunshine was alluring because the Portugal international was known to be uneasy with his personal lifestyle in the north-west of England.
Financial difficulties prevented the Camp Nou club from raising the necessary funds, and as a result, they missed out on the player for the second consecutive summer.
However, a recent interview has demonstrated the instance in which La Liga giants officials ultimately prevailed over their Etihad counterparts.
Jules Kounde, a center-back for Barcelona who joined the team during the most recent summer transfer window, stated this week that Manchester City was actively pursuing his signature.
In an exclusive interview with El Pais, the 23-year-old revealed specifics of a phone conversation he had with Pep Guardiola, the manager of Etihad Stadium.
The France international center-back said, “Yes, in my first year at Sevilla, when I came close to joining Manchester City.”
This most likely occurred during the summer 2020 transfer window.
Manchester City was actively looking for a long-term replacement for Vincent Kompany, and Jules Kounde was frequently mentioned as being on the team’s shortlist for transfers.
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Ultimately, the club signed Ruben Dias, who has since gone on to be a major success at the Etihad Stadium, after attempts to recruit Kounde and the then-Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly failed.
Pep Guardiola, though, made one of his infamous phone calls to Jules Kounde in an effort to recruit him to the Premier League champions.
“(Pep) Guardiola called me,” Kounde reportedly said to El Pais.
“He told me he adored me and that he thought I would match (Manchester City’s) style of play,” she said.
However, the Premier League powerhouses are unlikely to regret not signing the aforementioned defender.
A once-weak back-four has now been made solid by the club’s successful pursuit of former Benfica defender Ruben Dias, who has strengthened the players playing around him.
