Chelsea’s defensive rock Kalidou Koulibaly: Who the hell are you? (Vol. 22)

3. What does this mean for the centerbacks?

This question should be relatively easy to answer in the grand scheme of things. Koulibaly is reportedly coming in on about €200,000 per week, which would instantly make him Chelsea’s highest earning centerback, and rightly so. This means that he will start when fit and will likely be paired with Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah, if Tuchel sticks to a 3-4-2-1.

Chelsea lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers this window and sold Kurt Zouma to West Ham in a €29 million deal last season. The Blues will be going into next season with some assurance of another top class, seasoned centerback in their back line following the signing of Koulibaly though. Fans also expect youngster Levi Colwill to be added to Chelsea’s senior centerback list next season. This would put the Blues at four senior centerbacks that they can rotate in addition to Chalobah, Silva and the new arrival, Koulibaly. Ethan Ampadu may also be on the roster, but the reports coming out about him suggest that he’d want assurances on playing time and with the arrival of Koulibaly, no such assurance can be given to the versatile youngster.

Chelsea played with a back three for the majority of last season and if it continues to do that this season, Koulibaly likely slots in at left centerback with Chalobah on the right and Silva through the middle. That is, for now at least. This is because Koulibaly is far more athletic, so he’d be more useful to Chelsea as a wide centerback than Silva. Should the Blues decide to go to a back four next season, Koulibaly likely slots in as the left-sided centerback with Silva on the right. Chalobah and Colwill will be rotation options in a back four, and there’ll be many opportunities for them as Chelsea will be playing several competitions per week and may play 60+ games again.

Expect Koulibaly to make more centerback appearances and play more minutes than any other centerback for the Blues this season, similar to Rudiger last year. The Senegalese connection between he and Chelsea’s starting goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, bodes well for the Blues. With Koulibaly, perhaps Chelsea can go back to being secure in defense, so that Tuchel can focus on trying to solve the creation and scoring problem the west London club cannot seem to shake off.

What do you make of the Koulibaly signing? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!