Having lost both Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen to free transfers in the summer, Chelsea needed new centre-backs.
Thomas Tuchel was still in charge then, and one of the players the Blues decided to bring in was Kalidou Koulibaly.
The Senegal international had impressed for years in Naples, where he had almost become part of the furniture.
However, a move to the Premier League, especially Chelsea, is hard to resist, and the player decided to give the English adventure a go.
Currently with the Senegal national team for the international break, the centre-back sat down with Le Quotidien to chat about his move from Napoli to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
He said: “You know, it’s a life choice. I wanted to change clubs. I felt like I’d given everything to Napoli. There came a point where I wanted to change life, challenge myself and throw myself into a new challenge. Chelsea arrived and it didn’t take long for me to choose. They’re one of the five best clubs in the world, with a great history; a team that’s used to winning.
“Signing with Chelsea was a very good thing for me. I’m very happy to be there. It was a bit tough at first, because I had to move eight years of my life to London. It’s something that’s quite hard. The need to find a school, get used to the London life. I arrived in London, where I found my house, the school for my kids. I’ve found my bearings, so I’m very happy.”
As might have been expected, one of the players who helped him the most during this challenging time was Edouard Mendy, who is currently the number one goalkeeper at Chelsea.
The two know each other well from playing together for Senegal, and Koulibaly admits the shot stopper was ‘someone who stayed on the phone a lot’.
The defender took time in the interview to thank his teammate for presenting him to everyone, as well as Jorginho, whom he had played with at Napoli in the past.
The bottom line is, he’s very happy, and despite some initial hiccups against Leeds and Southampton, appears to be settling in rather well at Chelsea.
