Few days after announcing the signing of Raheem Sterling from Man City Chelsea have officially confirmed yet another huge signing and this time around, its Kalidou Koulibaly from Italian side – Napoli.

Koulibaly, who was unveiled as the second player to sign for Chelsea under the new era, agreed to a four-year, €40 million contract with the Blues that will run until 2025 plus option for further season. He then flew to Los Angeles to join the rest of the team.

As a result of Koulibaly’s desire for a new challenge, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis learning about the situation, the transfer ultimately came about fairly quickly.

Footballrover gathered that De Laurentiis had wished Koulibaly would renew his contract and was adamantly opposed to a move to Juventus, which Chelsea exploited.

In order to replace Matthijs de Ligt, who is likely on his way to Bayern Munich, Koulibaly was the main target for Juventus, but the Partonopei were not interested in the business with their Serie A rivals.

That put Chelsea in the lead in the race to capture the Senegal international, they acted swiftly and finalize the deal in an effort to bolster their thin backline.

“I’m very happy to be here with this team at Chelsea. It’s a big team in the world and my dream was always to play in the Premier League. Chelsea came first to get me in 2016 but we didn’t make it. Now when they came to me I accepted it because they really wanted me to come to the Premier League to play for them. When I spoke to my good friends Edou and Jorginho they made my choice easier so I’m really happy to be with you today.” – Koulibaly said.

Recall that both center backs – Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen had earlier left Stamford Bridge after their contracts expired, leaving a huge hole in their back four.

Interestingly, Chelsea resorted to Koulibaly even though the Napoli stalwart was always one of the possibilities they were examining as they attempt to add up to three new central defenders when it became evident that first-choice De Ligt was out of their price range.

However, Koulibaly has long been a target for Chelsea, who ultimately convinced Napoli to agree to a deal after the defender underwent a medical in London.

The 31-year-old’s £33 million (€40 million) transfer free is incredibly significant, but the Blues are delighted to acquire the services of a complete and technically gifted defender.

A fantastic acquisition and a player Tuchel has long admired and Napoli were finally ready to sell.

𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕? 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙!