Watch: Romano has big news on Chelsea’s shock move for Koulibaly
Chelsea have been desperate to sign a centre-back this summer – but nobody quite foresaw a move for Kalidou Koulibaly as Fabrizio Romano has revealed the Blues are ‘getting closer’ to securing the Napoli and Senegal defender.
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.
Tuchel has been linked with moves for Manchester City’s Nathan Ake – who Chelsea are still believed to be keen on signing – Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and Paris Saint-Germain’s Presnel Kimpembe this summer, as well as Juventus and Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt.
But the Chelsea boss appears to have struck a deal for the 31-year-old Koulibaly for a fee, according to Sky Italia, believed to be between £32million and £33.7million.
Providing an update on the surprise move on his YouTube channel, big-name journalist Romano said: “Chelsea are prepared to make an official bid for Koulibaly – and they want to be fast because Matthijs de Ligt is getting closer to joining Bayern Munich.
“Bayern have an agreement for De Ligt so Chelsea are pushing hard for Koulibaly – and the player is attracted by the Premier League experience.
“But Chelsea want to be fast because there are many clubs interested in signing a centre-back and they need to find an agreement with Napoli.”
Koulibaly has made over 300 appearances for Napoli 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.
And, after being linked with a move away from Naples for many years, the Africa Cup of Nations winner may finally be about to leave the club and sign for Chelsea this summer.
You can watch the video in full here.
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