Thanks for the memories at Barcelona Jules Kounde but it’s time to go

It isn’t just going to be Xavi and his backroom staff leaving Barcelona this summer, that much is clear.

Whilst a fire sale isn’t expected, nor a revolution, it’s obvious that something needs to change amongst the playing staff.

There have been quite strong rumours that Barca will need to sell a ‘big star’ this summer to balance the books, and Frenkie de Jong’s name keeps popping up.

He’ll cost a pretty penny of course, though one can certainly argue that he is integral to the way in which Barcelona play.

Whether dropping deep or marauding forward, Barca can generally rely on the Dutchman to set the tempo and patterns of play.

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The saying that you ‘don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone could be perfectly applied in De Jong’s case.

Ronald Araujo is another to be mentioned, with Bayern Munich making noises about how much they admire the Uruguayan powerhouse.

Whilst it’s true that he’s gone off the boil when compared to last season, he’s still far and away Barcelona’s best defender when he’s ‘on it,’ and unless the club are absolutely desperate for a certain amount of money to put in the coffers, then Araujo must not be sacrificed.

If a defender has to go, and after shipping 20 goals in the last eight games in all competitions that’s a certainty, then Jules Kounde is the one who should be packing his bags.

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Forget the fact that he’s largely been played in a position he doesn’t like – at right-back – he is an experienced professional and should be providing a much higher level of defensive output than he has of late.

Often caught out of position, he ambles back as if he couldn’t care less half the time.

Normally decent in the air as his WhoScored stats would support, he’s been beaten far too easily in headed duels this season too.

His tackles per game are the worst they’ve been since the 2020/21 season with Sevilla, and given that Barca’s full-backs are supposed to be a supplementary attacking presence, his solitary assist against Alaves back in November and one league goal scored way back in September against Osasuna aren’t figures to be proud of.

At just 25 years of age, he could still command a decent enough fee to justify Barca waving goodbye to him, and with Pau Cubarsi and Hector Fort now making their mark in the senior side, the time has come for Kounde to be moved on.