Chelsea have stepped up their interest in Jules Kounde and are ‘keeping a close eye’ on the defender ahead of the summer transfer window, according to reports in Spain.

Kounde has established himself as a regular in Hansi Flick’s starting XI and Barcelona’s hierarchy have no active plans to bring in an upgrade at right-back for next season.

And while Kounde’s level of consistency has dropped off a little from last term, when he scored the decisive goal against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final, he still has plenty of admirers in Catalonia.

There had been some positive signs of Kounde returning to his best over the winter, only for the full-back to go down with a muscle injury a month ago, meaning he has missed Barca’s last five matches in all competitions.

The France international was recently linked with Liverpool, who are in the market for a more defensive-minded right-back after capturing Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen last summer.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Kounde has since appeared on the radar of several other top European clubs – and Barca could consider the player’s departure should they receive a suitable offer.

The Spanish champions are well aware...