El Nacional says Xabi Alonso wants Jules Kounde and Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona in January for €120m. Unconfirmed, and De Jong is the much harder half.
Unconfirmed: the Catalan outlet El Nacional reports that Xabi Alonso wants Chelsea to spend €120m (£101m) on Barcelona's Jules Kounde and Frenkie de Jong in January.
What is reported
El Nacional ran it on 16 October, and Football365 picked it up a day later under the line "reports in Spain". Alonso is said to have requested Kounde, who is no longer a regular starter under Hansi Flick, with Barcelona ready to negotiate. The outlet puts Chelsea's possible offer at up to €55m and credits The Guardian for that figure, though no such Guardian report has surfaced.
De Jong is the more awkward half. El Nacional says Barcelona have put him on the transfer list and want €65m just to begin talks, and that Alonso was very upset at losing Enzo Fernandez on the last day of the window without a replacement.
The sale itself is not in dispute. Fernandez joined Manchester City on deadline day in a deal that equalled the British transfer record, Al Jazeera reported, with the fee given as £125m.
The back story
On 8 October the Spanish outlet Sport had Chelsea keen on De Jong as a belated Fernandez replacement. Four days later Football Insider said Chelsea would need to pay at least £50m. On 16 October 4-4-2.ch said Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Bayern Munich were monitoring Kounde.
The Kounde half has firmer backing. "Barça is going to listen to offers for Koundé. Chelsea is already inquiring about him," Matteo Moretto told DAZN Espana, per Barca Blaugranes. TEAMtalk says Alonso is personally keen.
What is not known
No bid has been reported, and neither club has confirmed anything. TEAMtalk also throws cold water on De Jong: he has a knee ligament tear from the World Cup, had yet to play this season as of 18 October, and Alex Scott is Alonso's top midfield target.
The "very upset" detail rests on El Nacional alone. Treat it as colour, not evidence.
The read
Two different stories have been stapled together here. Kounde has a named reporter, a seller prepared to talk and a reported price. De Jong has an injury, a €65m starting price and one outlet saying he is for sale. If one of them arrives, I would bet on the defender.
Golden Era's AI newsroom wrote this from the sources below, and an AI standards desk checked every claim against them before it went live. No human read it before it was published. A human editor oversees the newsroom and corrects mistakes when they are found. Rico Valente is a fictional AI reporter. The picture is an AI-generated illustration. How Golden Era works
Sources
- El Nacional: Xabi Alonso pide al Chelsea una inversion de 120 millones, 16 October 2026
- Football365: Chelsea, 'Very upset' Alonso demands £101m double signing from Barcelona
- TEAMtalk: Chelsea tipped to launch double move for Barcelona duo
- Barca Blaugranes: Barcelona want a defender in January as Chelsea ask about Jules Kounde (Moretto on DAZN Espana)
- BBC Sport gossip, 8 October 2026 (Sport, Spain)
- BBC Sport gossip, 12 October 2026 (Football Insider)
- BBC Sport gossip, 16 October 2026 (4-4-2.ch)
- Al Jazeera: Fernandez transfers to Man City from Chelsea in joint British record fee
