Zidane Wants Real Madrid To Sign $32M Defender Despite Ramos, Varane Being Regular Starters

Real Madrid are reportedly keeping an eye on Seville’s young center-back Jules Kounde. The 21-year-old Kounde had an impressive maiden season with Seville, where he scored two goals in as many as 36 competitive appearances for the club.

Kounde, who made his senior team debut with French side Bordeaux last season, moved to Seville in the summer of 2019 for a club-record $32 million.

The 21-year-old defender played a vital role in Seville’s Champions League qualification for the next campaign. He made 29 La Liga appearances and helped his side finish fourth in the table, where he also scored a goal.

According to an ESPN report, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, who wanted to sign Kounde last season, is once again looking to bring the Frenchman to Santiago Bernabeu this summer. Even though club captain Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane are undoubtedly starters as center-back for Real Madrid, the boss wants more depth in the squad ahead of the 2020-21 season.

The ESPN report has claimed that Zidane is impressed with Kounde’s speed and good positioning on the pitch as the player has struck one of the most hard-rock defensive partnerships in European soccer alongside Diego Carlos. It further added that even though Real Madrid are also in awe of the player’s physique, Zidane majorly wants to sign Kounde because of the player's young age as the boss believes there is still room for improvement that would pay off for Real Madrid in the long run.

The report has further revealed that quite a few European big clubs are monitoring Kounde and which is why the La Liga champions want to speed up the transfer process, although they are yet to approach Seville with an official deal.

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Real Madrid president declared that the club won’t make any expensive signings this summer. However, it is understood that Los Blancos are keen on Kounde, who could be a valuable investment for the side.

As of now, Real Madrid are preparing for their must-win round of the 16-second leg against Manchester City, which is scheduled to take place on Aug. 7 at the Etihad Stadium. The 13-time champions lost the first leg 2-1 at Santiago Bernabeu in February.