Chelsea have offered Kenedy to Sevilla as a new swap deal in their bid to recruit £68 million-rated centre back Jules Kounde.

Chelsea has reportedly made an offer to Sevilla for Brazilian winger Kenedy as part of a player-plus-cash deal for centre back Jules Kounde.

The Blues have made Kounde, a 22-year-old French defender, their top defensive target, but they are hesitant to pay his £68 million release clause.

As a result, Thomas Tuchel wants to add a makeweight, but after Kurt Zouma threatened to refuse to participate in any swap deal, Kenedy is now the player being offered, according to The Sun.

Sevilla, on the other hand, are not interested in Kenedy as part of any potential transfer for their star player Kounde, according to Goal.

Last week, Sportsmail learned that fellow French centre back Zouma was not interested in being involved in any trade, preferring instead to join West Ham.

Zouma's objective right now is to move across London to join the Hammers for next season.

Kounde is valued at roughly £50 million by Sevilla, and Zouma's projected inclusion in the transaction would have relieved Chelsea's financial load.

Zouma is valued at roughly £25 million by Chelsea, but it's unclear whether West Ham are willing to pay that much.

Cash-strapped As negotiations for Kounde heat up, Sevilla wants to reclaim as much of the buy-out price as possible, however Chelsea would prefer to provide players to lessen the charge and has now offered an alternative option in Kenedy.

Sevilla had already turned down a cash-plus-Davinson Sanchez deal from Tottenham, while Kounde was content to wait and see what other offers came in - Manchester United was also interested before signing Raphael Varane.

Manchester City, the Premier League champions, made an attempt for Kounde last summer.