New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte seems to have the bit between his teeth in search of a new centre back and the latest reports in Italy suggest that they have gone back again for Kalidou Koulibaly.
Sky Sports picks up on this one:
Chelsea have not given up on signing Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, according to calciomercato.it.
Antonio Conte is understood to have upped his bid for the centre-back to €50m (£43.4m).
The old partnership of John Terry and Gary Cahill looked pretty solid in Chelsea’s opening game of the season against West Ham on Monday night.
But Conte is taking no chances and ostensibly wants a younger presence in their.
And at 25 this 6ft 5in centre back is about as dominating as they come. He’s been an overwhelming success at Napoli over the two years of his stay and Chelsea’s boss will have seen him at close quarters.
The Senegal international who has just 6 caps for his country moved to Italy from Belgium and has been a virtual ever-present as Napoli have enjoyed something of a renaissance, finishing second only to Juventus last season.
Other names have been bandied about in relation to Chelsea defensive additions over the summer months but none more so than this guy.
And if the report is accurate it will be a huge statement signing, at that lofty price, for a defender.
Let’s see some of his best moments in his career. Chelsea fans: is he worth the money or should the club be investing in other areas of the squad first?