{"id":1268815,"date":"2022-07-16T07:19:22","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T06:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1268815"},"modified":"2022-07-16T09:43:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T08:43:46","slug":"kalidou-koulibaly-chelsea-transfer","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/kalidou-koulibaly-chelsea-transfer\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalidou Koulibaly signs for Chelsea: Blues finally get their “perfect” man after six years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chelsea have completed their second signing of the Todd Boehly era, picking up Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Blues have added the captain of the Senegal national team for a fee of \u00a334m. The transfer saga was concluded quickly as Koulibaly flew out to Los Angeles to join the club on their pre-season tour of the USA.<\/p>\n

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Koulibaly’s arrival comes hot on the heels of Raheem Sterling joining Chelsea from Manchester City, as Boehly works on assembling a top side for Thomas Tuchel. There will be more arrivals but Koulibaly is perhaps the most significant.<\/p>\n

Thomas Tuchel’s system is built around a solid defence and this summer Chelsea lost two of their best defenders for free as Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen left the club at the end of their contracts.<\/p>\n

This left the Blues with just one senior centre-back: the wily veteran Thiago Silva. A move for Jules Kound\u00e9 was scuppered by Barcelona and Juventus asked for too much for Matthijs de Ligt, so focus fell on Koulibaly and a move was concluded swiftly.<\/p>\n

Koulibaly joins the Blues and immediately is the best defender at the club; a beacon of organisation and leadership the likes of which Chelsea haven’t seen since John Terry. This could work wonders for the likes of Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr, young defenders who need guidance but also cover, cover Koulibaly can provide in ways Thiago Silva cannot.<\/p>\n

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    Koulibaly is an outrageous defender, dominating opponents since the second he stepped foot on a Serie A pitch with Napoli. Since he joined the Italian side in 2014, he is the outfield player who has completed the most passes, won the most tackles and recovered the most balls.<\/p>\n

    Part of this is his longevity, but that also speaks to how good he is. Koulibaly is a rock that is always there, hard-wearing and impassable. He will fill Rudiger’s role as a tone-setting enforcer but can also take over Thiago Silva’s role as the defensive organiser and replicate Andreas Christensen’s passing ability as well.<\/p>\n

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    1 – Since he joined Napoli (2014-15), Kalidou #Koulibaly<\/a> has been the outfield player to have completed the most passes (14528), won the most tackles (344) and recovered the most balls (1716) in #SerieA<\/a>. Colossus. pic.twitter.com\/3Zq5l2xugo<\/a><\/p>\n

    — OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) July 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n