Jules Koundé Faces New Challenges at Barcelona

Jules Koundé is in a place he barely recognises.

For the first time since Hansi Flick walked through the door, the France defender is no longer a near-automatic name on the team sheet. The security of that right-back spot has gone, and with it the comfort of routine. In its place: doubt, competition, and a lot more work.

According to Catalan outlet Sport, Flick has not seen Koundé as a priority option since June. Inside the club, the sporting department were ready to listen to offers in the summer, and this time the player was not firmly against the idea. A move, once unthinkable, had become an option.

The start of the season has only underlined the shift. Koundé’s level dipped last year and, in recent games, others have simply done better than him on the right side of defence. The hierarchy in that position has changed. He knows it.

And he knows why. By his own standards, he is not at his peak. The battle now is not just with rivals for the spot, but with the version of himself that once drew admiring glances from all over Europe.

What nobody at Barcelona questions is his response.

Koundé has always chased the perfect physical condition. When the whistle blows to end first-team training and most of his team-mates head for the dressing room, he stays out on the pitches at the club’s training complex. Sport report that he works on with fitness coaches and physiotherapists, stacking extra drills on top of the official sessions.

His solution to a shrinking role is blunt: work harder.

More time in the gym. Longer days at the training ground. Extra repetitions, extra running, extra everything. The France international is trying to turn lost status into fuel.

This is not some sudden act of desperation. It is the same routine he followed during the best spell of his career, when major European clubs – Manchester City among them – tracked his progress closely and wondered if they could tempt him away.

Back then, the extra sessions were about staying ahead. Now, they are about catching up. The question is whether that same relentless drive can convince Flick to trust him again, or whether this marks the beginning of a very different chapter in Koundé’s career.