Chelsea have considered making a move for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly this summer, according to Eurosport‘s Dean Jones.
The journalist says that the Senegalese international has been looked at as a potential alternative to Sevilla’s Jules Kounde.
Reports in Italy suggest Koulibaly is valued at around €50m (£42.5m), which is a lot less than Kounde’s €80m (£68m) release clause. However, it does seem as though the Blues remain focused on signing the Sevilla defender who is a personal favourite of Thomas Tuchel’s.
Other defenders have been considered. Villarreal’s Pau Torres is also on the London club’s radar while they did look into signing Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane before he joined Manchester United.
In regards to Koulibaly, the fact that the centre-back is now 30 may have put Chelsea off from making a formal offer for the player, although you can’t rule out the Blues going back in for him if they can’t agree a deal for Kounde.