After two major deals of the summer so far – the excellent signings of N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi – Chelsea are said to be confident of landing another of their main targets, despite two failed attempts so far.
British media outlet, The London Evening Standard, states:
Kalidou Koulibaly to Chelsea: Blues confident of deal for Napoli defender despite rejected £42m bid
The 25-year-old Senegal international, who stands at a whopping 6ft 5in will scare the life out of most Premier League attackers without even having to tackle them and he does look like a perfect fit for The Premier League.
But Napoli have held on to their main asset for dear life and haven’t budged despite those mammoth bids.
But the report does state that the Italian club is resigned to ultimately losing their star centre back of the last two seasons and that it could just be a matter of time.
The Standard also suggests that if Chelsea do lose out in the race for the giant then they have two other options lined up.
Chelsea have earmarked other defenders to sign in case they fail to agree a deal for Koulibaly, including Benfica’s Victor Lindelof.
Antonio Conte eyes Thiago Maia and Victor Lindelof
Lindelof is a 22-year-old Swedish centre back who can also play on the right. He has 6 caps for his country since his debut earlier this year. He moved to Benfica in 2013 and has made a fairly slow start to his career there but did get 25 games at the Portuguese club last season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-fhQFBXm3U
As for Thiago Maia, he’s a 19-year-old defensive midfielder who has broken through at Santos over the last two years and has real potential. But he would be unlikely to fit the bill at centre back.
In other news Kurt Zouma may soon answer the Chelsea call as he is said to have returned to training and is now close to match fitness once more.