Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has reportedly offered around £60 million to Napoli for their Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
According to a report by TuttoMercatoWeb, Chelsea have submitted a massive £60 million offer to sign Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for the second time, after failing to land him last summer. Conte chose to re-sign David Luiz instead, and he did help Chelsea clinch the Premier League title.
The Senegal international joined the Serie A club from Belgian side Genk back in 2014 and gradually cemented a position for himself despite being initially criticized for his role in the Napoli defence or the lack of it. There were several areas that could be exploited in their defence for a major part of Koulibaly’s first season.
Although he often seemed rash, Napoli chose to retain him and Koulibaly showed signs of improvement. In fact, last season, he missed only five Serie-A matches as the Italian club launched a serious title challenge to Juventus.
Koulibaly’s speed and strength gives him the ability to recover quickly even if one of his teammates is out of position and he is strong at timing challenges. He is dominant in doing aerial challenges and has also played as a left-sided centre-back despite being right-footed, which is a rare feat to do.
As far as his weaknesses are concerned, he is known to bring in some physical aggression which can lead to trouble since he was booked 11 times in 33 matches in the Serie-A last season. Having said that, as a strong defender and confident ball-player, he can still prove to be a good fit for Chelsea.
With Conte likely to deploy his preferred 3-5-2 system for a good chunk of the upcoming season and Kurt Zouma still on the road to recovery, the Italian looks short of depth at centre-half meaning Koulibaly can slot right in. He can also be a good fit if the Italian manager chooses to play a 3-4-3 formation.
It is believed that Chelsea are looking for a long-term replacement for John Terry who left the club after his contract expired at the end of last season, and that could be why the Blues are willing to shell out so much money for Koulibaly.
The Senegalese is considered as one of the Italian league’s best defenders, and with good reason. If the deal does go through, he will elevate Chelsea’s defence as they get ready to defend the Premier League trophy and launch a serious attack to clinch the Champions League trophy next season.
