Chelsea’s Kalidou Koulibaly will never let anyone stop him representing Senegal

New Chelsea signing Kalidou Koulibaly has vowed he will never let anyone stop him representing Senegal.

The Senegal captain called for more respect of African nations after the president of his former club Napoli threatened only to sign African players willing to give up international ambitions.

Aurelio De Laurentiis pledged that Napoli will only now sign African players if they are willing to miss the Africa Cup of Nations, given the tournament clashes with European league competition.

Koulibaly has joined Chelsea in a £34million deal from Napoli, becoming part of new owner Todd Boehly’s new Stamford Bridge era.

The 31-year-old insisted he would respect De Laurentiis’ pledge on African players, but urged European teams to do likewise to the Africa Cup of Nations.

“Nobody ever told me not to go to AFCON or something like this,” said Koulibaly, who captained Senegal to AFCON glory at the 2022 tournament. “Maybe sometimes they try to ask my manager or something like this.

“But me, now as captain of Senegal, when AFCON comes I have to be the first one there, the first one in Senegal.

“Nobody can tell me not to go to my national team. I have a lot of love for my national team, the team that I play for.

“So, if someone told me to do that, it would be the only time that I can fight with somebody.

“The way we feel all the time with my national team, we are all respectful, we wait for players to come from the Premier League, and everybody is happy to be here.

“Everybody thinks the same as me in the national team. If someone told them not to come they would always fight to come.

“This is the most important thing. Everybody has to give us respect.”

Napoli chief De Laurentiis this week lamented the time African players spend away