Chelsea sign Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly for reported €40 million fee

07/16/2022

In a statement, Chelsea have confirmed that they have signed Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly in a move worth €40 million with the 30-year-old signing a four year contract. The Senegalese becomes the club’s second signing this summer after a mega move for Raheem Sterling earlier this month.

The departures of both Andreas Christensen and Thiago Silva, it has left Chelsea hamstrung defensively with many fans wondering who the Blues would bring in as replacements. However, with a new owner taking over at the same time, it has seen Chelsea struggle to make moves but all that changed with the arrival of Raheem Sterling. The 27-year-old marked the start of things for the Blues with them heavily linked with moves for Kalidou Koulibaly and Jules Kounde.

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But while a move for Kounde hasn’t materialized as of yet, Chelsea have confirmed that they have signed Koulibaly from Napoli in a move worth around €40 million. The defender has also signed a four-year contract with the club and becomes the Blues’ second summer signing after Sterling. Reports have also indicated that Koulibaly will earn around 10 million per season and that the four-year contract does contain an option for another year.

“Kalidou Koulibaly is the second player to join Chelsea this summer! The defender arrives from Napoli and has signed a four-year deal at Stamford Bridge. Koulibaly, an international team-mate of Edouard Mendy’s, will significantly bolster our defensive options following the departures of Toni Rudiger and Andreas Christensen,” reads the statement.

The 30-year-old was entering the final year of his deal at Napoli and admitted that he’s “very happy to be here with this team at Chelsea.” Not only that, Koulibaly revealed that the reason he accepted the move was that he believed it was time for him to make the switch to the Premier League and England.

“I’m very happy to be here with this team at Chelsea. It’s a big team in the world and my dream was always to play in the Premier League. Chelsea came first to get me in 2016 but we didn’t make it. Now when they came to me I accepted it because they really wanted me to come to the Premier League to play for them. When I spoke to my good friends Edou and Jorginho they made my choice easier so I’m really happy to be with you today,” Koulibaly told Chelseafc.com.

“I want to thank the fans because I saw a lot of them in London and on the plane, everybody was happy for me to be here. So I want to thank them and I hope the season will be really good and we will give some good moments to the fans.’