Chelsea's Top $102M Target Agrees To Join Liverpool In January: Report

Liverpool FC are reportedly close to beating Chelsea in the race to sign Seville defender Jules Kounde.

Jurgen Klopp's side is ready to activate Kounde's release clause of $102 million in the January transfer window, reported Catalan publication El Nacional. The report further claimed that Kounde accepted Liverpool's offer to move to Anfield this month.

Klopp reportedly wants to sign Kounde in the underway window because the German boss is aware that the 23-year-old defender will certainly be roped in by any other club in the summer of 2022.

Chelsea, who failed to land Kounde last summer, are still adamant about signing the French center-back ahead of the summer window, according to 90Mins. However, International Business Times could not verify the information independently.

Seville currently sit second in the 2021-22 La Liga table and Kounde, who is contracted with the Spanish club until 2024, has been a vital cog of the team. Julen Lopetegui's men also won the Europa League in 2020 with Kounde at the heart of their defense.

In the ongoing campaign, Kounde has played 17 La Liga games, starting in all of the games. Seville kept nine clean sheets in these matches. The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán side has only let in 13 goals in 20 games in the league so far this term.

Klopp wants to add Kounde to his squad this month despite not being short on center-backs. The Reds signed Ibrahima Konate in the summer of 2021 to compete with Joe Gomez and Joel Matip to partner Virgil van Dijk at the center of Liverpool's backline. It seems like after suffering massive injury woes in the defense department last season, Klopp does not mind strengthening the side further.

Missing out on Kounde would be a major setback for Chelsea, who are on the verge of losing a few of their key defenders in the upcoming summer market. German star Antonio Rudiger, club captain Cesar Azpilicuea and Andreas Christensen are all on their way out as free agents at the end of the 2021-22 campaign. Neither of these defenders has agreed to an extension yet with Chelsea.

However, there was some good news recently at Stamford Bridge after Brazilian defender Thiago Silva penned a new one-year contract.

With 43 points in 21 games, Chelsea are in second place in the 2021-22 Premier League table, 10 points behind table-toppers Manchester City. With 42 points, Liverpool are in the third spot but they have a game in hand.