That Jules Kounde was unhappy with his role at Barcelona was talked about a lot in the summer. He had spent most of his first season playing right back instead of his preferred spot of center back. Some even said the French player was ready to leave Barcelona, but Kounde quickly put an end to those reports.

But there were other stories that Kounde had told Xavi Hernández that he wanted to play center back. To begin the season, the player has mostly played through the middle. Because Kounde kept pushing him, he became one of the best center-backs in Europe before hurting his knee. Now that he’s back, Jules is trying to get back into the swing of things after coming back against Real Sociedad over the weekend.

In his pre-match press conference before Tuesday’s Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk in Hamburg, Germany, Kounde confirmed that he had spoken with Xavi before the season. He also made it clear that he is willing to play right back if needed, but Jules didn’t even try to deny that center back is where he wants to be full-time.

“I’m happy because I sit in my spot. Last season, I played right back, and I’m always free. After the season, I talked to Xavi about where I should play because I want to make the most of my skills, but I will never refuse to play right back. I’m here for the coach to use.”

It’s clear that Kounde was right to want to play in the middle, and Barcelona has made the right back position better with João Cancelo, who is having a great start to his loan season. Everyone wins!