Chelsea have reportedly drawn up a shortlist of defensive targets, including Villarreal's Pau Torres and RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol, in case Barcelona successfully hijack their deal for Jules Kounde.
Chelsea had hoped to complete the signing of Sevilla defender Kounde this week after reaching an agreement with the Spanish club over a €60 million transfer fee, while the Blues have already agreed personal terms with the France international for a five-year contract.
Barcelona had initially appeared to rule themselves out of pursuing Kounde but reports in the past few days have claimed the Catalans have entered the race for the 23-year-old's signature and are increasingly confident of beating Chelsea to yet another transfer target this summer. Barcelona have already signed Brazilian winger Raphinha, who appeared set to join the Blues before Barca expressed their interest.
It is being reported that Kounde, who is with the Sevilla squad at their pre-season training camp, will wait for Barcelona's offer to weigh up his options before deciding on his next move.
Should Kounde shun Chelsea for Barcelona, reports have claimed the Premier League club have compiled a list of alternatives as manager Thomas Tuchel desperately attempts to bolster his defensive ranks ahead of the new season.
Those targets reportedly include Villarreal's Spain international centre-back Torres, versatile Croatian defender Gvardiol of Leipzig, and Slovakia captain Milan Skriniar of Inter Milan. Also understood to be on the shortlist are Bayern Munich pair Dayot Upamecano and Benjamin Pavard, and Paris Saint-Germain's Presnel Kimpembe.
Tuchel has repeatedly expressed his determination to recruit new defenders following the departures of Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona, both on free transfers. Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly has been signed from Napoli but Tuchel said he wants "at least" two more defenders.
That number could increase further if Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta and left-back Marcos Alonso are granted their wishes to join Barcelona, although the Blues are reluctant to do business with Barca after growing increasingly frustrated with their conduct this summer.
Chelsea had been in advanced negotiations with Manchester City over a return to Stamford Bridge for Nathan Ake, only for those talks to ultimately break down, while discussions with PSG over Kimpembe have been ongoing for a couple of weeks without a significant breakthrough.
It all contributes to the sense of frustration at Chelsea, where transfer activity has been slow and their disappointing pre-season form led to Tuchel lambasting his players after the 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in Orlando on Saturday.
In addition to Koulibaly, the Blues have signed England forward Raheem Sterling from City to help fill the gap in attack left by Romelu Lukaku, who returned to Inter Milan on loan. But the priority is defensive reinforcements and Tuchel has been clear about what he wants.
"We are looking for guys who can play on the left side," Tuchel told the Chelsea website. "Toni [Rudiger] played on the left side and was not a left-footed guy, so maybe Kalidou can play there because he plays in a back-four on the left side, but let’s see what is possible.
"It is not only about bringing players in for numbers; we need numbers, we also need quality so we will make some decisions late, not only about players but also about systems. Ideally we would have a left-footer."
Chelsea complete their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Serie A side Udinese in Italy on Friday, before opening their Premier League campaign with an away trip to Everton next Saturday, August 6.
The lowdown
Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee
Rating: 3/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
Mobile phone packages comparison
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
pakistan Test squad
Azhar Ali (capt), Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Canada
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'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
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MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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CABINET%20OF%20CURIOSITIES%20EPISODE%201%3A%20LOT%2036
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
