Chelsea transfer news and rumours: Kalidou Koulibaly valued at £30 million
The latest piece of Chelsea transfer news sees potential target Kalidou Koulibaly valued at around £30 million by current club Napoli. Is that too much?
Chelsea transfer news continues to dominate the silly season sphere. The latest rumours concerns potential defensive target Kalidou Koulibaly, with Napoli reportedly rejecting a bid due to their valuation standing at £30 million.
The Mirror reports that the Blues have already had an offer rebuffed and that the Italians value Koulibaly at over 50% more than the original bid.
"Chelsea have made their move for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly with a £19.2million bid…But Napoli want £30million for their Senegalese centre-back and have already rejected Chelsea’s offer."
Read as much as you want into this tabloid story, but with Chelsea’s squad in line for major overhaul during the summer transfer window, nothing should be ruled out.
Given the club’s ageing defensive line coupled with their inability to graduate academy talent, they are believed to be in the market for several defenders. Kalidou Koulibaly has caught the eye of many football enthusiasts across the continent and he is apparently high on the list of several managers.
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The Senegal centre-back has built an impressive reputation with Napoli since his arrival two seasons ago, making over 80 competitive appearances thus far for the club.
Koulibaly’s performances over the last year helped Napoli finish in second place in the Serie A, guaranteeing them automatic qualification to next season’s edition of the Champions League.
With John Terry taking up a reduced role, Gary Cahill on the downwards slope in his career and Kurt Zouma set to miss the start of the campaign, centre-backs are needed. Andreas Christensen has thoroughly impressed with Borussia Monchengladbach, but his two-year loan deal means that he is currently due to stay in the Bundesliga for another twelve months.
At the age of 25, Koulibaly could represent a decent investment. Brought up in the Serie A, his defensive skills should be more than sound, unlike recent acquisition Baba Rahman.
However, with Napoli reportedly requiring £30 million, Antonio Conte will need to decide whether this would be an efficient use of his resources. Reinforcements are needed across the board and thus splashing out superstar-amounts of cash on non-superstar players is questionable.
Of course, prices are inflated in modern football and with the ridiculous TV money coming in, it will take some getting used to the new status quo.
Next: Transfer targets for Chelsea’s biggest transfer window in club history
What do you think of the proposed move? Are you just ignoring this as standard tabloid chatter? Let us know in the comment section below!