FC Barcelona made a number of important acquisitions last summer, and Jules Kounde has turned out to be one of the most successful of these signings. The 24-year-old defender was instrumental to Xavi’s plans last season and was an integral part of the backline that kept Barcelona’s defense watertight in their victorious La Liga campaign.
After passing the test of his first season at Barcelona with flying colors, the Frenchman is now looking towards his second season with the motivation and aim to establish himself as one of the team’s starting center-backs, according to SPORT.
Kounde’s most preferred position on the pitch is in the center of the defense, but the player could not play at this position regularly last season for two main reasons. Firstly, the team lacked a natural right-back who could start in this spot.
And secondly, Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo were performing at a very high level at the heart of the defense.
This issue of Kounde’s position in the team has been making the headlines recently. There were reports that the Frenchman has told Xavi that he is more comfortable when playing centrally and would prefer to play mainly as a center-back.
For now, the agreement between Xavi and Kounde is that he will play at right-back position when the team requires it, but his designated position in the squad would be that of a center-back.
The 24-year-old France international will join his teammates at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper this Monday, along with other players like Ousmane Dembele, Robert Lewandowski, and Ter Stegen.
These players would train in Barcelona before departing for the USA tour on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Kounde has been training on his own to get in shape for a strenuous season ahead and is aiming to start the season with all guns blazing.