According to Goal, Chelsea had a £47million bid for Kounde rejected.

That is not expected to be the end of Chelsea’s transfer chase, however, with Sevilla holding out for £55m and Thomas Tuchel’s side expected to come back for a second bid.

Chelsea face a battle from Barcelona, who are also in the running for Kounde, which could make matters tricky when it comes to agreeing on personal terms.

The West London club have already signed Kalidou Koulibaly to bolster their defence this summer and are also in talks to sign Presnel Kimpembe from Paris Saint-Germain.

Meanwhile, Manchester City goalkeeper, Zack Steffen, has left the club to join Middlesbrough on a loan deal.

Middlesbrough disclosed this in a tweet via its Twitter handle on Tuesday.

It tweeted, “We’ve completed the loan signing of @zacksteffen_ from @ManCity,”

Steffen’s move was already on the cards as Manchester City have already signed Stefan Ortega to provide competition to Ederson, the first-choice keeper.