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Chelsea set to sign Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly: Decoding his stats
Chelsea are set to land Koulibaly from Napoli (Photo credit: Twitter/@kkoulibaly26)

Chelsea set to sign Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly: Decoding his stats

Jul 13, 2022
05:50 pm

What's the story

Premier League side Chelsea are close to agreeing a deal with Napoli to sign Senegal central defender Kalidou Koulibaly. According to Sky Sports, the deal is expected to be closed on Wednesday for a fee of between £32m and £33.7m. Meanwhile, the player has already agreed personal terms with Chelsea. Besides Koulibaly, Chelsea are also interested in signing Nathan Ake from Manchester City.

Context

Why does this story matter?

Koulibaly is one of the best central defenders in European club football. He has been a rock at the back for Napoli for many years. His addition is massive for Chelsea, who lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen in the summer. This will be Koulibaly's maiden stint in the Premier League and he will be excited to make his presence felt.

Deal

Key details about the deal

Koulibaly is expected to be offered a five-year contract worth around £160,000 per week (£8.2m a year) net plus bonuses by Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea. He is highly experienced and a sturdy force at the back. He seems to be an able replcaement for Rudiger at Stamford Bridge. Notably, he had just one year left on his Napoli contract and was wanted by Juventus.

Chelsea

The situation of Chelsea in the transfer window

Chelsea saw both Rudiger and Christensen depart as free agents which left a hole defensively. Chelsea allowed Romelu Lukaku to return back to Inter Milan on loan, despite signing the player last summer for a record fee. Chelsea had a deal agreed with Leeds United for Raphinha but the player chose Barcelona. Chelsea have signed Raheem Sterling and are looking to get Ake next.

Story

Chelsea's story regarding central defenders this summer

Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah, and Malang Sarr as the only senior central defenders in Thomas Tuchel's squad. With Koulibaly and Ake set to join, it gives Chelsea the muscle. Chelsea wanted Sevilla's Kounde and Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt. However, Kounde is reportedly keen to join Barca and Matthijs is closing in on a move to Bayern Munich. This made them get Koulibaly and Ake.

Napoli

317 appearances for Napoli

Koulibaly has spent eight seasons at Napoli after joining the Italian club back in the summer of 2014. In 317 appearances across competitions, the defender has scored 14 goals. 13 of his goals have come in the Serie A, having played 236 games. He bagged two honors with Napoli - Coppa Italia in 2019-20 and Supercoppa Italiana in 2014.

Information

Unique numbers for Koulibaly

As per Opta, since he joined Napoli (2014-15), Kalidou Koulibaly has been the outfield player to have completed the most passes (14,528), won the most tackles (344), and recovered the most balls (1,716) in the Serie A.

Information

Individual honors for Koulibaly

The 31-year-old Koulibaly has been included in Serie A Team of the Year on four occasions. He won the Serie A Best Defender award in 2018-19. He has also won one Serie A Player of the Month award.

Do you know?

Koulibaly also played for Metz and Genk

Koulibaly started his career with Metz in Ligue 2, scoring once in 46 games. He joined Belgian side Genk next, scoring thrice in 92 matches. He won the Belgian Cup with Genk in 2012-13.