Mauricio Pochettino will be working tirelessly this summer to turn Chelsea’s fortunes around following their woeful Premier League campaign this term, finishing in the bottom half of the table.

The Blues have conceded 46 goals in 37 games thus far, and it is clear that the defence needs some improvement, despite the talents of Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile in their ranks.

Pochettino will surely stick with the duo next term; however, it could be a different story for Kalidou Koulibaly, who has failed to impress upon his £33m switch from Napoli last summer.

He has started just 20 league games for the club and kept only five clean sheets as part of the defence, as well as ranking 6th for tackles made per game and third for cautions.

He was even dubbed a “liability” by journalist Bruno Brown earlier this year, so could Pochettino ditch the Senegalese defender after only one season in London? Only time will tell.

With the Stamford Bridge outfit seemingly keen on making a move for Barcelona centre-back Jules Kounde, he could well find himself down the pecking order.

Could Chelsea sign Jules Kounde?

According to Diario Sport, Kounde is ready to leave the Spanish giants as he hasn’t been utilised in his preferred position by Xavi, and with this in mind, Chelsea could potentially make a move during the summer.

A fee of €75m (£65m) could be enough to tempt Barcelona to sell the Frenchman and Pochettino would certainly strengthen his defence by luring the player to England.

Across 27 La Liga matches, the 24-year-old received a Sofascore rating of 7.11/10 and he has showcased his passing ability by making 54.9 passes per game (89% success rate) while averaging 77.9 touches each match, indicating that he is extremely comfortable on the ball and likes to build attacks from the back.

The defender also ranks highly compared to other centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year when it comes to attempted passes (top 7%), progressive carries (top 2%) and progressive passes (top 2%) - further backing up his ability to work the ball out from the defence effectively, and Pochettino could use this to his advantage next season.

Former French World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf dubbed the Barcelona star as a “warrior” previously and heading into 2023/24, the Argentinian coach will be looking to build a team which is full of players hungry for glory and Kounde could be the perfect signing for the Blues.