Kalidou Koulibaly reaction to Reece James should excite Chelsea as Todd Boehly looks for big fix

Chelsea's relatively young core group of players have had great success since being trusted with first team football in 2019 under Frank Lampard.

Mason Mount and Reece James fronted a set of players that had little to no Premier League experience but were still given the chance to prove themselves on the highest stage. Since Lampard's arrival, the club has played in seven cup finals.

This itself would be classed as success for most clubs. Constantly competing for domestic trophies is a stage that Chelsea have been sat on for a long time. However, of those seven finals the Blues only won three and none of them came in the three domestic showpieces.

Albeit that a Champions League winners medal makes up for a lot of heartbreak in other final losses, Chelsea under Roman Abramovich were built on their ability to consistently win finals, not just get there. It has led to the Blues being labelled as 'nearly men' in some situations, with questions being asked of their suitability to stick out a long league season or win finals in tough matches.

Perhaps this is unfair given the two penalty shootout losses involved last season, but the record of three consecutive FA Cup final defeats is damaging to any club, let alone one with such prestige as Chelsea.

That's why the reinforcements so far this window have been experienced players with the knack of winning. Raheem Sterling has become a serial trophy lifter and Kalidou Koulibaly is one of the most respected defenders of his generation.

This will help James, Mount and the their Chelsea teammates build up their own collection of vicarious winning experiences. The messages being passed on from Koulibaly to his defensive partners have started already, as well.

In Koulibaly's first