Barcelona star Jules Kounde has revealed told him he ‘loved’ him in a bid to persuade the defender to move to .
The Frenchman joined Barcelona from Sevilla last summer after a protracted tug-of-war between the Catalans and .
Chelsea were desperate to sign Kounde in 2021 but refused to meet Sevilla’s £67m asking price.
The Blues felt they were favourites this summer because of Barcelona’s financial problems but the Spaniards somehow found the money to sign the France ace.
But Kounde was also on Guardiola’s option a year earlier, before City signed Ruben Diaz.
Guardiola conducted a wide search for a new centre-back and was impressed with the Spaniard impressed by the defender’s ability to bring the ball out from the back.
But Kounde has revealed he turned down Guardiola’s advances, despite the City boss saying he ‘loved’ him.
Asked whether he’d had interest from Manchester City, Kounde said: ‘Yes, in my first year at Sevilla [the end of the 2019-20 season].
‘He [Guardiola] called me. He told me that he loved me and that he thought I would fit the way he played.
‘At a certain point, yes. I talked a lot about football with both of them. And that’s what I like.
‘The first thing, in the conversations I had with them, I realised that they had both seen me play – they knew my capabilities perfectly.
‘They didn’t talk just to talk. They were very precise conversations.’
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