The person who facilitated Kounde's signing is demanding 3 million from Barça

BarcelonaAccording to the news channel Jijantes As this newspaper has been able to confirm, the Barcelona intermediary Isaac T. López is demanding 3 million euros from Barça. This amount corresponds to 6% of the total transfer of Jules Kounde to the Barça club in the summer of 2022, which was valued at 50 million, and which constitutes a commission for intermediation with Sevilla, the club that then owned the French international defender. After years of claiming that amount and seeking a friendly understanding with the institution chaired by Joan Laporta, López has filed a civil procedure to claim his fees through the courts.

Official sources from Barça consulted by the ARA state that they have not yet received any notification on this matter and point out that López "did not participate in the negotiation" with Sevilla. On the other hand, the representative maintains that he was the key person in getting Sevilla to agree to sell Kounde to Barça for less money than that offered by Chelsea, who were also interested in the player. According to ARA, Laporta contacted the club to convince the then Sevilla sporting director, Monchi, to transfer him to the Catalan club. In the final phase of the talks, and always according to the version of the complainant, a commission of 3 million was agreed for the services rendered that would be paid by Barça, since Sevilla understood that it was already losing money by agreeing to close the deal with the Catalan club and not with Chelsea, which had more millions to offer.

The precedent with Luuk de Jong

López mediated between Barça and Sevilla in the Kounde operation a year after he did so to dress Luuk de Jong in Barça on the last day of the 2021 summer transfer market. For that transaction he did receive the fees verbally agreed after the club agreed to sign a mandate to bring him in. However, with Kounde, and although the three parties agreed that the 3 million were justified, the amount was never paid at any time. López, who in addition to being an agent is a Gran Turismo driver, has tried in recent years to reach an agreement with the club through his legal services, led by Pere Lluís Mellado, even reducing the amount initially planned. He has also offered to help Barça with other signings to resolve the initial debt. However, there has been no understanding, so the case has reached the courts, where the procedure has already been admitted for processing.