Chelsea: £34m target would be ‘phenomenal’ signing at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea target Kalidou Koulibaly has been labelled a ‘phenomenal’ talent by Italian football expert Conor Clancy amid growing speculation over his future.

The 31-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for several years now, but with just 12 months remaining on his contract, he could finally seek pastures new this summer.

A recent report from Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport (via The Sun) claims Chelsea are willing to offer Koulibaly £8.5 million-a-year in order to join Thomas Tuchel’s charges.

Napoli are said to have placed a £34m price tag on their prized asset after talks over a potential new deal with the Senegal international reached an impasse.

It’s claimed that the Azzurri’s owner Aurelio De Laurentiis wants Koulibaly to take a wage cut on his £100,000-per-week contract, while Chelsea are ready to increase that figure.

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The Blues could face fierce competition for the 6 foot 1 ace’s signature, though, as Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain are also listed as potential suitors.

With Antonio Rudiger joining Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen expected to sign for Barcelona, acquiring a new elite-level centre-back is likely to be a priority for Tuchel over the coming months.

Clancy believes that Koulibaly is a ‘brilliant’ player and that he and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk would be most people’s first-choice centre-back pairing.

He told GiveMeSport: “He’s brilliant. If you were given a game of FIFA, and you were told to just build your own team, Koulibaly and Van Dijk are the first two defenders you’d put in immediately, if it’s a back two or a back three. He is phenomenal, phenomenal.”

Koulibaly