Barcelona defender Jules Kounde and manager Xavi are not having the best of relationship.
AS reports that the French defender and the Spaniard have a strained relationship over the manager’s consistently deciding to play him in an unfamiliar right-back position.
Kounde joined the Catalan giants from Sevilla last summer for a fee of €55 million with add-ons with the club promising to play him in the centre-back role and not as a full-back.
But he has ended up as the first choice right back at the club following a dearth of full-back options at Xavi’s disposal.
For this reason, the France international is unhappy playing down the flanks and wants to play in central defence.
Former Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso has also found himself playing as a centre-back on occasions this season.
Defender Andreas Christensen returned to the starting XI to replace former Chelsea teammate Alonso against Real Betis earlier on Saturday but Kounde remained at right-back as Barca recorded an impressive 4-0 La Liga win at home.
The right-back is not the 24-year-old’s natural position, and his performances in recent weeks have left a lot to be desired at times.
