Arsenal
Chelsea Beat Arsenal To £30m Signing Of Serie A Defender
Chelsea have beaten off competition from Premier League rivals Arsenal to secure the £30m signing of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, according to reports
The opening of the summer transfer window is now open so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea win the race for Kalidou Koulibaly….
Chelsea have beaten off competition from Premier League rivals Arsenal to secure the £30m signing of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, according to the Mirror.
Koulibaly joined Napoli from Racing Genk in 2014 and has developed in to one of the best centre-backs in Italy over the past two years with his rock solid performances at the back helping his club finish second behind champions Juventus last season.
The Senegalese international’s impressive form led to strong interest from the Premier League with the Mirror claiming that Arsenal and Chelsea were among the clubs battling it out over his signature this summer.
However, the newspaper says that the defender has made it clear he wants to leave Naples after failing to agree a new deal with the Serie A club and claim that the Blues have now won the race for the 25-year-old ahead of Arsenal.
The Mirror suggest that Chelsea will wrap-up a £30m deal once Koulibaly agrees a severance package with Napoli so it looks as though incoming boss Antonio Conte is set to complete his first major signing of the summer.
Conte is expected to be extremely busy in the transfer market as he looks to reshape the squad following a disastrous campaign and the Italian tactician is set to build his new-look defence around Koulibaly next season.
The news will come as a huge blow to Arsenal as Arsene Wenger needs to bring in a reliable partner for Laurent Koscielny as neither Per Mertesacker or Gabriel have made the position their own and Koulibaly would have fitted the bill perfectly.
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However, it looks as though the 6ft 5ins defender is heading to Stamford Bridge where he’ll compete with the likes of John Terry, Gary Cahill, Matt Miazga and Kurt Zouma for a starting spot in Conte’s starting eleven next year.
