Kounde still doesn’t know when he’ll make his competitive debut for Barca

Jules Kounde has been training with Barcelona for two weeks now and still doesn’t know when he’ll be able to make his competitive debut according to Diario AS.

That wasn’t much of an issue initially as the Frenchman, who joined Barcelona this summer from Sevilla, wasn’t fully fit. He underwent surgery earlier in the close-season and was still regaining full fitness. But now he’s raring to go and unregistered.

And he’s needed. Barcelona didn’t look altogether composed against Rayo Vallecano in their opening fixture of the season – they drew 0-0 but conceded an offside goal – and Kounde’s presence would be welcomed.

It’s thought that Xavi Hernandez’s thinking is to field Kounde in a back three and utilise a midfield diamond ahead of them – a sort of 3-4-3 shape that would make use of Barcelona’s deep stable of centre-backs. As well as Kounde they also have Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen on the books.