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Kalidou Koulibaly’s initial struggles at Chelsea were to be expected, with the Premier League ‘very different’ to Serie A.

That’s according to former Chelsea scout Carlo Jacomuzzi, who says he had anticipated the centre-back struggling at Stamford Bridge.

Koulibaly arrived at Chelsea in a €38m deal from Napoli in the summer, bringing an end to an eight year stay in Naples where he had regularly been one of the stars of the show.

He has struggled to impress in the early days of his Blues career, with several shaky performances in the heart of their defence.

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He is yet to look like a good piece of transfer business, with many questioning his displays and the price Chelsea have paid for him.

It remains to be seen if he can improve on what he’s shown so far and hit the heights he managed in Italy, where he was regularly among the best defenders in Europe.

Jacomuzzi is not surprised by his initial struggles but does believe the defender can bounce back.

“Koulibaly in difficulty? I expected it, in Italy it’s very different,” I Am Naples report him saying.

“There is pressure, while in England you only talk about the game on Friday and Saturday. You play open football to win, not to draw.

“Kalidou has to understand his opponents well, he has to know his teammates and the dynamics well and show his value again.”