Barcelona receive injury boost as key defender is spotted in training

News from the French National Team camp yesterday rang the alarm bells in Barcelona. It was reported that star defender Jules Kounde had suffered a blow to his ankle during the game against Germany and that his substitution was out of precaution.

The report furthered that the blow was minor, although no official communication was provided over the extent of the injury.

As relayed, it appears that the Frenchman has survived the injury scare unscathed.

Back on his feet

In what comes as great news for Barcelona and Xavi, Kounde is back training normally as of yesterday. There appears to be no discomfort around his ankle, and the player can claim to have dodged a bullet.

Kounde is back training normally. pic.twitter.com/JRCfdJ3f6v

After playing over an hour in France’s 2-0 defeat to Germany, Kounde will thus enter the squad list to face Chile in the team’s second international friendly of the hiatus.

However, it remains to be seen if Deschamps opts to field the defender after his injury scare or rest him for the greater good.

Full-time right-back

Jules Kounde rose to prominence at Sevilla as one of La Liga’s finest defenders and even signed for Barcelona with the promise of being a long-term solution in central defence.

Xavi, however, has preferred utilising Kounde at right-back to cover the void in resources and did so for the entire 2022-23 campaign.

This season, the Frenchman began as one of the team’s first-choice centre-backs but has only risen to his best when deployed back on the flank.

With every passing game, the 25-year-old looks more comfortable playing as a right-back.

Interestingly, Kounde also plays as a right-back for France under Didier Deschamps, and two top managers finding an alternate position to be his niche can be no coincidence.