Chelsea
are close to agreeing a deal with Napoli to sign Senegal centre-back Kalidou
Koulibaly as they look to rebuild their defence for next season, according
to Sky in Italy.
The deal is expected to be closed on Wednesday for a fee of between £32m
(€38m) and £33.7m (€40m).
The central defender, who has 62 caps for Senegal, is also expected to be
offered a five-year contract worth around £160,000 per week (£8.2m a year)
net plus bonuses to move to Stamford Bridge.
Koulibaly, who was also interesting Juventus, has just one year left on his
Napoli contract.
Napoli held their first open training session of the summer in front of fans
on Tuesday evening, however, Koulibaly was not present.
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.
Koulibaly, 31, has made over 300 appearances for the Serie A club since
joining from Belgian side Genk eight years ago, being named in the Serie A
team of the year on four occasions, as well as being named the best defender
in Italy in 2019.
As well as Koulibaly, Chelsea 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.
Manchester City have been long-time admirers of Napoli's Kalidou
Koulibaly
Image:
Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly has been one of the standout defenders in Serie A
in recent years
The Blues are also keen on Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt, but he reportedly
favours a move to Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, Raheem Sterling is set to become Chelsea's first signing since
the consortium led by Todd Boehly completed its takeover of the club. The
City forward underwent a medical on Sunday ahead of his £47.5m move to
Stamford Bridge.
'This could be last chance for Napoli to
cash in'
Sky Sports News reporter Dharmesh Sheth:
"I think we've been talking about Kalidou Koulibaly coming to the Premier
League for the last 64 transfer windows! He's 31 years old now and he's
entered the final year of his contract at Napoli, so maybe this is the time
for Napoli. If they are going to get any money for him - and he's not going
to sign a new contract - then probably this is the summer to sell.
"Chelsea want to sign central defenders. Antonio Rudiger, he honoured his
contract and is now a Real Madrid player on a free transfer. Andreas
Christiansen did the same and now he's at Barcelona. There's still question
marks as well about Cesar Azpilicueta and there are other defenders like
Marcos Alonso as well. Thiago Silva might have turned up at pre-season
training and thought, 'where all the central defenders?'
"But Kalidou Koulibaly is one that they are interested in. They're in talks.
Juventus are also interested in Koulibaly as well. That could be as a
potential replacement for Matthijs de Ligt, who is being linked with Chelsea
as well.
"Another player who Chelsea are pushing to sign is their former defender
Nathan Ake. We think that talks are continuing with Manchester City over
that one."
top