Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has gone on to confirm that Chelsea placed an offer in excess of £42 million for Kalidou Koulibaly
It was no secret that Chelsea were in the market to bolster their backline this summer and the Blues left it till deadline day to complete a double swoop for Marcos Alonso and David Luiz for a combined fee of around £55 million.
Ahead of the double signing of Alonso and Luiz, Chelsea had faced a lot of frustration in their chase for a new defender and the Premier League giants were believed to have failed with multiple bids for top target Kalidou Koulibaly.
Koulibaly was one of the best defenders in Serie A last season and Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was desperate to sign the Senegalese international.
Chelsea had made a big offer for Koulibaly
However, Napoli stood firm in their stance of keeping hold of Koulibaly and the Italian giants were believed to have rejected numerous big offers on the table by Chelsea for the defender.
Now Napoli President, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has gone on to speak regarding the saga surrounding Koulibaly this summer and has gone on to reveal that Chelsea did indeed offer in excess of £42 million for their prized asset.
Speaking Tutto Mercato Web, De Laurentiis said: “We’ve signed Tonelli and Maksimovic, not because we don’t believe in ours, but because we’re looking forward to the African Cup.
“The first has been playing with Sarri and the second we’ve been following for years. Our line is well formed, no wonder why Chelsea offered more than €50m for one of our defenders.”
