Barcelona defender has been training with ‘substitute’ players after matches to recover form

Barcelona’s defence last season was a sight to behold. Marc-Andre ter Stegen was at the top of his powers, and arguably the best goalkeeper in Europe, single-handedly keeping the team in games at some point.

He was guarded by a back-four of the pace-demon Alejandro Balde at left-back, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen in central defence, and €65 million don Jules Kounde at right-back.

They broke records last season, eventually winning La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup, even though the Champions League turned out to be a failure.

More concerningly though, this exact back-four, affectionately called ‘BACK’ due to their initials, have fallen off beyond anyone’s worst expectations. Every single member of the quartet is horribly out of form, while ter Stegen has been injured since mid-November.

Probably none more so than Jules Kounde, though. The Frenchman was considered Rolls Royce of a defender, and was equally comfortable at right-back and centre-back.

This season, however, he has been on the end of several errors, with a few of them leading to goals.

In an attempt to regain his best form back, Kounde has stopped participating in ‘recovery’ sessions after matches with the participating players, as per a report by Mundo Deportivo.

This is when every player who played during a game goes through a cool-down to relax their muscles and prevent injuries.

Instead, Kounde has been training with the substitute players after games. Players who do not participate in games train on the pitch after the game is done to keep them fit and gunning for future matches.

On the transfer list?

Kounde knows this more than anyone, but Barcelona will likely try to sell a few players during the 2024 summer transfer window. One of the positions they are stacked with, and could part with, are centre-backs.

Ronald Araujo is one of the captains of the club, and will almost definitely continue, while Inigo Martinez is too old to have a decent market value on his head.

That leaves Kounde and Christensen. Reports have suggested that Barcelona could look to offload at least one, if not both of them while integrating Pau Cubarsi into the team.

Reports of Chadi Riad have also surfaced, with his buy-back clause set at €7 million. Mika Faye also continues to be an option.

Point being, with the centre-back market so stacked with options, Barcelona will have little to no problem parting with one of their prized assets.