Koulibaly to Chelsea, Barca or Juventus: The state of play
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 12 Jul 2022 10:11 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea, Juventus and Barcelona have something in common; they all need to sign centre-backs this summer.
The Premier League giants lost Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger on free transfers after their contracts expired. They are in the market for two central defenders.
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Juventus, meanwhile, saw their legendary captain Giorgio Chiellini move to Los Angeles FC, while Matthijs de Ligt will also leave the club after demanding a transfer. He is in negotiations to join Bayern Munich, who have moved ahead of Chelsea in the race for him. Juventus plan to sign two centre-backs, one of them a top-class defender.
Barcelona, finally, plan to sign one top centre-back as they are offloading a number of defenders this summer. Clemen Lenglet has moved to Tottenham on loan, while Samuel Umtiti is for sale and Gerard Pique is no longer considered a key player.
These three clubs have all been looking at Koulibaly this summer, also.
The Senegalese star, now 31, sees his contract expire in 2023 and his future is very much in doubt despite a new contract offer from Napoli.
Juventus have made Koulibaly their number one target to sign De Ligt but a deal appears unlikely due to the fierce rivalry between the Bianconeri and Napoli.
The two clubs detest each other and any player who moves from Napoli to Juventus is immediately labelled a traitor and becomes a hate figure for life. This is what happened when Gonzalo Higuain swapped Napoli for Juve in 2016.
Koulibaly has become an adopted son of Naples during his eight years there and is very reluctant to burn bridges by joining Juventus.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis also is unlikely to sanction the sale of Koulibaly to Juventus for the same reason. De Laurentiis would not have sold Higuain to Juve but was powerless as they activated his release clause.
Koulibaly himself is understood to prefer a move abroad if he does leave Napoli this summer.
Barca and Chelsea more likely than Juventus
Barcelona are his preferred destination and he has spoken about his love for the club in the past. But Barca have made Sevilla’s Jules Kounde their number one target, and this player also prefers the Blaugrana over Chelsea – who also hold a long-term interest.
If Barcelona sign Kounde, one would assume that ends any hope of buying Koulibaly. Especially as Barcelona – with deep-rooted financial problems despite their imminent cash injection – are also set to spend well over €100m on Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski also.
This opens the door for Chelsea, who seem likely to miss out on primary defensive target De Ligt. The Dutchman has already agreed personal terms with Bayern Munich and prefers a move there.
There is not an abundance of top centre-backs available on the market right
Chelsea are in contact with Koulibaly’s agent Fali Ramadani and could become the most viable destination for the defender given the above.
That’s if he leaves Napoli, though, as there is still every chance he could pen a renewal and commit the rest of his career to the Azzurri. Or he could simply run down his contract and leave on a Bosman next year.
