Someone like Sergio Ramos will be tough to replace with a like-for-like signing purely because of what he brought to the team, but it makes sense to look for someone who has some similarities.
Jules Kounde currently plays for Sevilla just like Ramos did before moving to Madrid, and the French defender is an outstanding player who’s also happy to venture forward and contribute in the opposition’s half too.
He does look like the kind of player who could go on to be a long-term successor for the former Real Madrid captain, but a report from ABC suggests Real will need to seriously up their offer.
It’s believed that Real are looking to offer around €50m to Sevilla for their star centre back, but their La Liga rivals are looking for at least €80m to let him go so the two sides aren’t remotely close just now.
They also confirm that he’s under contract from 2024 and there’s interest from other sides like Chelsea and Man United so Sevilla aren’t in a position where they’ll need to accept the first offer, and it does suggest an agreement is miles away here.
