Having lost both Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen, Chelsea need new centre-backs, which is why they are targeting players like Matthijs de Ligt.
The Dutchman isn’t exactly cheap, though, and Bayern Munich are sniffing around, meaning other names are being looked at.
Kalidou Koulibaly is one of those, having been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge a number of times in the past few months without anything serious happening.
Of course, Chelsea were in the middle of a change of ownership at the time, but that is now over, but the transfer window has yet to properly kick off in the incoming section.
Still, the Blues remain linked with the Senegal international, as Calciomercato.it cover Napoli’s efforts to keep him around.
+++Aggiornamento @kkoulibaly26+++ La volontà di @ADeLaurentiis è delineata: Koulibaly unica deroga al salary cap. Pronta offerta di rinnovo che ricalchi l'attuale ingaggio di 6 milioni. Il @ChelseaFC resta in corsa, altre piste meno fattibili.
I dettagli su, ora, @calciomercatoit
— Marco Giordano (@MarcoGiordano6) July 6, 2022
They have a self-imposed salary cap, like most Serie A sides these days, and their journalist Marco Giordano took to Twitter to explain ‘the will of Aurelio De Laurentiis is outlined’, which is that Koulibaly will be the ‘only exception’ to the salary cap.
With a contract expiring in 2023, he needs to be renewed, and all previous attempts included a salary lower than what he currently earns.
This time, however, it ‘follows’ what he pockets these days, with more information appearing on their website in an article stating it is ‘close to or equal to the current salary without signing bonuses or other special bonuses’.
Back to the tweet, it’s added that Chelsea ‘remain in the running’, while ‘other avenues are less feasible’.
This suggests it’s a stay at Napoli or a move to Stamford Bridge for Koulibaly at this point in time.
