One of the first signings of the Todd Boehly era, Kalidou Koulibaly arrived at Chelsea with a lot of expectations.
The Senegal international had a great reputation at Napoli, and many expected him to carry that on with the Blues, but that wasn’t to be the case, to the point where he was eventually dropped and sought a transfer away.
He has now gone to Saudi Arabia, signing with Al-Hilal, and before leaving Chelsea for good, he sat down with Corriere dello Sport for a lengthy interview.
Aside from his past in Naples and what advice he could give Victor Osimhen, the 32-year-old was asked about what went wrong at Stamford Bridge and what could have gone better.
He said: “With Chelsea, I had a great experience. The Premier League is fantastic. Lots of intensity, lots of goals, very fast players, great talents. They expected the Koulibaly from Napoli, but I don’t think my season has been that bad. I needed time: in one year, I couldn’t demonstrate what I would have wanted due to the choices of the manager and the club.”
That being said, not everything about his move to Chelsea was bad in his eyes, and the centre-back insists he ‘very happy’ about a lot he has learned, not just about football, but about life in general with his family and children.
He admits his time simply ‘had come’ to leave and a choice needed to be made, and with the African Cup of Nations coming up, sitting on the bench at Stamford Bridge wasn’t going to get him ready for a high level competition.
