Chelsea have been linked with a move for Kalidou Koulibaly in recent weeks. Here is what you need to about the Senegalese defender.
A transfer for Kalidou Koulibaly is one that makes a lot of sense for all parties involved. Antonio Conte is known to trust players from his native Serie A more than other foreign imports and Koulibaly certainly represents not only value for money but a playing style that would fit in the Premier League’s more “bodily” demands.
Standing at a gigantic 6’5’’ he is not likely to be beaten in the air by anyone and at almost 200 lbs he’s not going to be muscled around by the likes of Andy Carroll or Romelu Lukaku. Diego Maradona even went so far as to say “He is phenomenal, the best defender in Serie A”.
Koulibaly is also a very diverse player in terms of the things that he is able to do. He has spent much of his time this year at CB but had several departures to RB and DM along the way. With Conte being a fan of a back three instead of four, all three of the players at the back need to be able to read the game, play with the ball at their feet and tackle consistently.
More from The Pride of London
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
The Senegal international possesses all of these traits in addition to being the right age (24) to help usher in the new age of Chelsea defenders. In many ways, he has a similar style to that old Rolls Royce of Italian 90’s football Lilian Thuram. Thuram was the perfect defender. He was quick across the ground, had magnificent passing range and could easily fill in at right back, center half or defensive midfield.
If Chelsea were to sign Koulibaly I could see him featuring in a back three alongside Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic until Kurt Zouma gets himself fit again. After that I see Ivanovic as the most likely departure.
His contract extension seemingly came as insurance for the Zouma injury in the first place. Five years from now the backline will probably see Zouma and Koulibaly joined by Andreas Christensen, with Jake Clarke-Salter maybe replacing one of the three.
The truth is Chelsea FC don’t need to be making any ill-measured defensive signings. That is the place that the club is strongest in terms of youth players. With Jay DaSilva, Ola Aina, Christensen, Clarke-Salter and Fikayo Tomori coming through the ranks, Chelsea will want to be careful not to muck it up with panic signings.
Next: Euro 2016: Evaluating groups D-F
Having said that, this move makes sense. The key factor is Koulibaly’s ability to also play DM and RB, two positions which he could be pushed into if necessary by the emergence of all the prior mentioned blue youth.