Jules Koundé's Shift at Barcelona: From Untouchable to Expendable

Jules Koundé is in a place he has never really known at Barcelona: on the outside looking in.

Since Hansi Flick walked through the door, the France international has seen his status shift from near untouchable to expendable. For the first time under the German coach, his name is no longer one of the first on the team sheet, and that reality has driven him into overtime far from the spotlight.

According to Catalan outlet Sport, Koundé has not been high on Flick’s list of priorities since June. Inside the club, the sporting department were open to a sale if a convincing offer landed on the table. This time, the defender himself was no longer firmly against the idea of moving on.

The start of the season has only underlined that change. His level dipped last year and, in recent games, others have simply done better than him at right-back. The hierarchy on that flank has shifted. Koundé feels it every time the line-up drops.

He is under no illusions. He knows he is not at his peak. He knows Flick’s trust has to be earned again, not assumed. What nobody at the club questions is his response.

Koundé’s answer is work. Relentless, repetitive, sometimes lonely work.

Sport report that when first-team training finishes and most of the squad head back to the dressing room, the 25-year-old stays out on the pitches at the training ground. While his team-mates cool down, he drills on, flanked by fitness coaches and physiotherapists, chasing sharpness and explosiveness, searching for the version of himself that once drew admiring glances from all over Europe.

The extra effort does not stop on the grass. It continues in the gym, with longer sessions and more specific routines, and in extended hours at the Ciutat Esportiva. The club’s schedule marks the official end of the day; Koundé’s does not.

This is not a sudden reaction to a crisis. It is the same method that marked the best period of his career, when major European clubs – Manchester City among them – closely monitored his situation and saw a defender on a steep upward curve.

Back then, the extra sessions were about climbing. Now, they are about clawing his way back. The question is no longer whether Koundé can reach the top, but whether this grind can restore his place in Flick’s plans before the window of patience closes.