Chelsea bought center -back 41 million USD

After brief negotiations, Napoli accepted Chelsea's offer of $41 million, including a surcharge. Previously, the Senegalese midfielder agreed with Chelsea on all personal terms, with a salary of $11 million per season. Romano used the familiar phrase "so far" to announce the deal.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel is looking to bolster his defence following the arrival of Antonio Rudiger at Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen at Barcelona, both on free transfers earlier this month. Initially, Chelsea were targeting Juventus' Matisse Delicht. However, Chelsea's new boss Todboli believes Bayern are ahead of the game at Delicht, so they turn to Koulibaly.

According to Sky Sports Italia, Koulibaly flew to London on the evening of July 13 and had a health check at Stamford Bridge the next day. If he passes the Test, the 30-year-old midfielder will become Chelsea's second rookie this summer after Raheem Sterling.

Last weekend, the "The Blues" reached an agreement to recruit Sterling from Man City with $ 54 million in prepaid, with $ 12 million in accommodation. The British striker earned a week of nearly 400,000 USD under a contract with a term of 2027. On July 13, Sterling also wrote a letter to break up Man City after seven years.

Koulibaly has a Napoli shirt since 2014. Last season, he kicked 27 matches and contributed greatly to help the club the third target of Serie A, after Milan and Inter. He scored three and created three goals in this 27 Serie A match, equal to Rudiger's contribution in the last season of Chelsea.

Koulibaly was once considered the world's leading center-back, when there were four consecutive seasons in the typical squad of Serie A, period 2016-2019. He was noticed by many big clubs like Chelsea, Man Utd or Barca, but Napoli has never been at the negotiating table. President Aurelio de Laurentiis once shouted Koulibaly up to $ 113 million. By this summer, Koulibaly refused to renew and only one year contract. Napoli, therefore, is forced to sell Koulibaly instead of losing in the summer of 2023.

According to Romano, Chelsea still wants to recruit more central defenders, with Nathan Ake as the top goal. The London Club has reached a personal agreement with the Dutch defender, but still needs to claim the transfer fee with Man City - the club wants to earn at least 48 million USD. In addition, Chelsea also targets the Kimpembe Presnel - the center -back who worked with Tuchel at PSG.