Jules Kounde is a French defender born in Paris in 1998. He developed at Bordeaux and made his Ligue 1 debut there before moving to Sevilla in 2019. In Spain he became a regular centre-back, helped Sevilla win the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League and earned wider attention for his defensive range. Barcelona signed him in 2022, where he has played both centre-back and right-back and won La Liga in his first season. Kounde made his France debut in 2021, won the Nations League that year and was part of the squads for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.