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Chelsea transfer news: Blues could make January move for Kalidou Koulibaly

Kalidou Koulibaly
(Image credit: PA)

Chelsea are weighing up a January swoop for Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, according to reports.

The Blues tried and failed to strengthen their backline during the summer transfer window, as leading target Jules Kounde proved unobtainable.

Sevilla refused to let the 22-year-old leave for less than his release clause, and Chelsea did not want to pay £68.5m for the Frenchman.

"I hear that I'll be leaving, but I'm fine here," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport last year. 

"I don't understand why we should talk about the market when there's nothing on the horizon. There's a new one [rumour] every day. 

"You never know what happens in football. I never spoke to the club to leave. If we have to find a solution, we will, but I've never talked about the transfer market. 

"I read about my future in the newspapers but I only want to think about playing. I'm 100 per cent for Napoli and it bothers me being linked every day to this or that European club."

Comments like those are unlikely to prevent Chelsea trying their luck with an offer, though, if he is indeed Tuchel's preferred option.

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