Chelsea
are in talks to sign Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly as they look to
rebuild their defence.
The Blues lost Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to
Barcelona this summer - both on free transfers - leaving Thiago Silva,
Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr as the only senior centre-backs in Thomas
Tuchel's squad.
But Koulibaly could be set to strengthen the head coach's options, although
Juventus are also interested in the Napoli defender.
Koulibaly - who won the Africa Cup of Nations alongside Chelsea goalkeeper
Edouard Mendy with Senegal in February - has just one year remaining on his
Napoli contract.
The 31-year-old has made over 300 appearances for the Serie A club since
joining from Belgian side Genk eight years ago.
Koulibaly - who has 62 caps for Senegal - has been named in the Serie A team
of the year on four occasions, and was named as the best defender in Italy
in 2019.
As well as Koulibaly, Chelsea also have an interest in Manchester City's
Nathan Ake, Sevilla's Jules Kounde, RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol and Paris
Saint-Germain's Presnel Kimpembe.
The Blues are also keen on Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt, but he reportedly
favours a move to Bayern Munich.
Raheem Sterling is set to become Chelsea's first signing since the
consortium led by Todd Boehly completed its takeover of the club. The
Manchester City forward underwent a medical on Sunday ahead of his £47.5m
move to Stamford Bridge.
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