July 15, (THEWILL) – Kalidou Koulibaly, the Senegalese defender for Napoli, passed his medicals and is anticipated to be unveiled by Chelsea on Friday.
The 31-year-old is believed to have signed a contract at Stamford Bridge lasting until 2026, and the Blues and Napoli have reached an agreement in the neighbourhood of €40 million. At one point, Matthijs de Ligt was the top transfer target for Chelsea, but interest from Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich, abruptly changed the situation. Koulibaly had been targeted by Juventus as a potential replacement for de Ligt.
The Netherlands international made it clear right away that he preferred to move to Germany, but Chelsea also withdrew from a deal as a result of Juventus’ high €100 million asking price.
In recent days, Chelsea announced the acquisition of Raheem Sterling, a Manchester City and England forward, but Koulibaly’s presence is noteworthy in light of the losses of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger this summer. They left on free transfers to join Real Madrid and Barcelona, leaving head coach, Thomas Tuchel, with a huge vacuum to fill in the middle of defence.
In addition to signing Koulibaly, Chelsea has also reached an agreement with Manchester City to acquire Nathan Ake. The club is also interested in making a third signing, which could result in the permanent departure of young Levi Colwill from Stamford Bridge.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
