As per the Sky Sports in Italy, Chelsea are close to reaching an agreement with Napoli to sign Senegal center-back Kalidou Koulibaly as they attempt to reassemble their defence for the upcoming campaign.
Chelsea Close in on deal for Kalidou Koulibaly
The transaction, which is likely to cost between £32 million and £33.7 million, is anticipated to be completed on Wednesday.
A five-year deal worth approximately £160,000 per week (£8.2 million per year) net plus bonuses is also anticipated to be made to the Senegal central defender, who has 62 caps for his country.
Only one year is left on Koulibaly’s Napoli deal; he was also intriguing to Juventus.
Koulibaly was absent on Tuesday night when Napoli held their first public practise of the summer in front of supporters.
The only senior centre backs remaining in Thomas Tuchel’s side are Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah, and Malang Sarr after the Blues lost Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona this summer on free transfers.
The 31-year-old Koulibaly joined the Serie A club from Belgian side Genk eight years ago and has since made over 300 appearances. He has four times been selected to the Serie A team of the year and was awarded the finest defender in Italy in 2019.
In addition to Koulibaly, Nathan Ake of Manchester City, Jules Kounde of Sevilla, Josko Gvardiol of RB Leipzig, and Presnel Kimpembe of Paris Saint-Germain are also players who Chelsea are interested in.
Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus is a player who the Blues are also interested in signing, but he reportedly wants to join Bayern Munich.
The consortium led by Todd Boehly has completed its takeover of Chelsea, and Raheem Sterling is about to become the club’s first acquisition. A medical was performed on the City forward on Sunday in preparation for his £47.5 million transfer to Stamford Bridge.