Jules Kounde, the free spirit of the Barça dressing room

BarcelonaJules Koundé ends 2025 as the second most-used player by Hansi Flick this season. Only Eric García surpasses him, by a difference of 148 minutes: 1,927 minutes and 1,779 minutes, respectively. The French defender, who under Xavi Hernández began to overcome his reluctance to move from center-back to right-back (a position he had already been playing for his national team), was the fourth most-used player by the German coach throughout the past campaign. Only Raphinha, Pedri, and Lamine Yamal, the three key figures of the successful 2024-25 season, played more. "He always wants to play and works incredibly hard and takes amazing care of himself to achieve it. He wants to play every minute," a source familiar with the Frenchman's daily life in the Barcelona dressing room told ARA.

Although his football has raised some doubts, especially during the most delicate stretch of the season so far, when he was seen suffering significant lapses in defense in relatively easy-to-resolve situations, Koundé is a guaranteed starter for Flick. He himself took it upon himself to break down the competition. Héctor Fort, relegated to the sidelines last season, is making ends meet on loan at Elche, and the Barcelona youth product, a good friend of Lamine Yamal, is developing by leaps and bounds in the team managed by Éder Sarabia. The main alternative to the Frenchman in a position that has plagued several coaches in recent years is, currently, Eric García. As the player from Martorell, who performs in every role, has recently been playing as a midfielder, Flick has given Casadó some minutes in that position, which the player from Sant Pere de Vilamajor has already occupied on occasion in the past.

The latest example was in the last match, in the final minutes against Villarreal, when Koundé felt some discomfort in his right leg. Barring any setbacks, this shouldn't prevent him from participating in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Club, and he should even be available before then for the visit to the RCDE Stadium. In fact, although some initial reports suggested a more serious injury that would have kept him off the pitch for several weeks, he himself refuted this on social media, directly quoting the reports that pointed in that direction. This isn't the first time. In fact, he had already done so a few weeks earlier this season to deny that he had asked Flick to play him as a center-back.

Lover of fashion, music, and active on social media

Kounde is a footballer active on social media; he might surprise you by correcting a journalistic report with a GIF such as sharing photos from a fashion magazine in which he is the star or taking a photograph at the Montserrat monastery And accompanying it with a poetic phrase in Catalan: "Somewhere where the sun doesn't fade." The 27-year-old French footballer is a free spirit within the Barcelona dressing room and, in general, in football. "He's an easygoing, down-to-earth guy. He's more of a loner, he doesn't belong to any particular clique," another source who knows what it's like to work with Koundé explained to ARA. Although he doesn't belong to any particular clique and "pretty much does his own thing," for example, he does get along with the group formed by Joan Garcia and other Catalan players in the dressing room, such as Eric Garcia or Dani Olmo, the Valencian Ferran Torres, the Canary Islander Pedri –a close friend of Ferran– or the Andalusian Fermín.

His passion for fashion, aside from being evident because he has been the face of clothing brands or graced the covers of specialized magazines, is often made visible because he himself shares photos on social media of the looks with which he arrives at or leaves a match. That is, only if Barça has won. In an interview on the VogueHe explained what it's like to be a visible face in fashion and, at the same time, a recognized player in such a testosterone-fueled environment as football. "I take into account the opinions of the people I love and respect. Negative opinions from others haven't influenced me for a long time. I know myself well, I'm comfortable with myself and what I wear. I think we hold ourselves back and put up barriers when we worry about what others think or say. In this sense, football has been a great influence on me; I probably would have quit football a long time ago," he argued. He also raised his voice to speak out against the rise of the far right in France.

Aside from football and fashion, basketball and music are his other great passions. In the same interview, he cited a role model for each of these hobbies: David Beckham, Yves Saint Laurent, Allen Iverson, and Rihanna. They are some of the idols of a footballer who never goes out to play a match without reading his personal notebook, where he has "motivational phrases and words" and without listening to the song Dreams and Nightmares by Meek Mill.