Chelsea are on the verge of completing a mega-deal for Senegalese center-back Kalidou Koulibaly, but it reeks of incompetence from their new Chelsea management.
Todd Boehly's agreement to bring Koulibaly to Chelsea is flawed.
The Senegalese defender has been at Napoli for eight years and appears to be leaving the club, with Chelsea set to make their first major signing under new management.
Koulibaly has long been regarded as one of the world's best central defenders, and signing him should be a major coup for Chelsea, but it appears that they are about to be duped.
Kalidou Koulibaly joining Chelsea would have been a fantastic deal...two or three years ago, not in 2022, and certainly not for €40 million.
Chelsea is pursuing Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Chelsea is pursuing Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Not to be ageist, but Kalidou Koulibaly just turned 31 years old, which means his prime years are behind him.
That doesn't necessarily mean he'll fail at Chelsea, but it does mean we've seen his best work and Koulibaly is no longer as intimidating as he once was.
Many will point to Thiago Silva as justification for this deal because the Brazilian joined Chelsea as a 35-year-old and has since emerged as the club's best defender.
Thiago Silva, on the other hand, did not come to Chelsea as a marquee signing; he was a free agent who recently signed his third one-year contract with the club to ensure a third season.
Todd Boehly, Chelsea's new owner, has been at the forefront of the club's transfer dealings and is clearly playing an important role in brokering this deal with Napoli.
The entire deal screams inexperience; spending €40 million on a 31-year-old and then giving him a five-year contract worth €10 million per year demonstrates that Boehly knows nothing about football.
The club has essentially committed €90 million to a player past his prime who is untested in the Premier League and had even begun to show signs of decline in Serie A, where he had been tested and trusted.
It's made worse by the fact that Koulibaly had only one year left on his Napoli contract, giving Chelsea more wiggle room to negotiate a much lower transfer fee.
For context, Manchester United paid Juventus €15 million for Cristiano Ronaldo last summer because he was old and only had one year left on his contract, the same leverage Todd Boehly squandered for Chelsea.
Even if Kalidou Koulibaly becomes a Chelsea success in the next five years, it will only be to justify his exorbitant transfer fee and wages, rather than to work out as a bargain.
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