Barcelona have recently made headlines with their capture of Jules Kounde, snapping the Sevilla starlet from the jaws of Chelsea.
The Frenchman is set to revamp Xavi’s defensive options ahead of the new season, having signed a five-year contract with the Catalan giants.
A recent report from Què T’hi Jugues has offered further details on Kounde’s deal, including the financial toll from Barça’s end.
The Blaugrana are set to pay Sevilla a total of around €50 million, with an additional €12.5 million to be paid through performance-related variables. This takes the total cost of the operation up to €62.5 million.
As far as the personal terms are concerned, Kounde will receive a salary of around €9.5 million per season for the upcoming 2022/23 campaign. But his salary will increase up to €12 million from the 2023/24 campaign onwards. Barcelona have also paid a signing-on fee of €2 million to the Chelsea target.
If the figures are true, the Frenchman could easily become one of the highest-paid players in the Barcelona team, with a wage packet higher than some of the existing stars in the squad including Robert Lewandowski.
It also breaches Barcelona’s newly-implemented wage structure that bars players from earning more than €9 million per season. However, given Kounde’s age and seemingly limitless potential, it will not come as a surprise to see Barça make an exception.
Moreover, the club have made a fortune by utilising three economic levers, generating a fee of around €767 million. It should help them make some adjustments to their wage structure, though a lot could depend on the potential exit of the remaining fringe players in the squad.