Chelsea learn salary offer has already been tabled for Kalidou Koulibaly as deal 'closed'

Chelsea are agreeing a deal for Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly despite the Serie A side reportedly offering the Senegal star a new five-year deal worth around £5m. The Blues are believed to be close to agreeing a £34m fee with the Italian club and personal terms with the player as talks continue to progress.

Thomas Tuchel has made strengthening his Blues backline a priority this summer after losing Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona for free when their respective contracts expired already in the current window. A move for Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt has hit the buffers amid intense interest from Bayern Munich, forcing Chelsea to look elsewhere.

Koulibaly has emerged as a key target, and according to , a deal to bring the Senegalese captain to Stamford Bridge is close. The Blues remain in talks with Napoli over a potential transfer which is expected to see the 31-year-old join on a long-term deal worth around £34million.

Napoli are notoriously clumsy negotiators and it's believed a deal is by no means done, but the talks are going in the right direction from Chelsea's perspective. And this despite the fact that the Serie A side have already expressed a desire to keep Koulibaly, after offering the player a long-term contract.

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According to , the defender, who has just one year left on his current contract with Napoli, has been offered by the Italian club for further terms which would see him earn around £5million over the course of for the next five seasons. . The Italian outlet claims that Koulibaly, who has also reportedly attracted interest from Barcelona, ​​Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, has reportedly refrained from giving an answer to Napoli.

Amid ongoing talks with Chelsea over a transfer, Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis is expected to start negotiations on Thursday and assess Koulibaly's stance on a move to west London. We hope he can still accept Napoli's contract offer.

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Addressing Koulibaly's potential transfer to Chelsea, Gli Azzurri manager Luciano Spalletti expressed his hope that Koulibaly would stay at Napoli, but hinted that the central bac...