Jules Koundé is one of the best full-backs today and has spent two seasons proving that he's hard to beat. Under Hansi Flick's orders, the Frenchman has shown his best soccer and great improvement. In fact, this has led several of the continent's top teams to ask about him and show interest.
Barça has gone through a rebuilding phase and, little by little, is shaping a perfect squad; a combination of veterans and academy players. Jules Koundé was criticized in the past, but Xavi Hernández's decision to change his position was the right one. Now, a nightmare for the full-back could return to LaLiga, something the culé surely won't like.
Jules Koundé and his situation at Barça
Jules Koundé signed with Barça as a center-back and finished several seasons in the best possible way. Unfortunately, three years ago, the Frenchman experienced a drop in performance and ended up being sidelined. Xavi Hernández knew what his player was capable of and decided that he should play as a full-back like he does for his national team.
The process wasn't easy and Jules Koundé admitted on several occasions that he didn't like it, but that he was willing to do it if necessary. From that moment, his level started to rise again and today he's the best right-back on the continent. Even so, there are always forwards who, obviously, can put up a fight.
This is the case of Bryan Zaragoza, who this year scored a goal against Barça in 17 seconds and left Jules Koundé completely exhausted. The forward was on loan at Osasuna and ended up being one of the team's best players by far. Although he had to return to Bayern Munich, his actual club, it's very likely that Celta will take him on loan.
Bryan Zaragoza and Jules Koundé
Bryan Zaragoza has spent years showing that he has a lot of quality, but he hasn't managed to adapt successfully to the German team. This has led him to go out on loan and everything suggests the same will happen again. It's quite likely that we'll see Jules Koundé facing the Spaniard in just a few months.
Jules Koundé already knows what the winger is made of, so he'll surely look for a way to defend himself. Although we can't take anything for granted, we'll have to closely follow Bryan Zaragoza's steps and his possible loan to Celta.