Kalidou Koulibaly is finally a Premier League player after Chelsea parted with £33m to complete the signing of the Senegal international on Saturday. Ending his eight-year Napoli career in the process, a switch to the English top-flight has been a long time coming.
Joining the Serie A outfit from Genk in a £6.5m deal back in July 2014, the defender established himself as one of the most highly-regarded defenders in Europe. As a result, he has repeatedly found himself the subject of reported interest from Premier League giants, as well as the continent’s other elite sides.
"I'm very happy to be here with this team at Chelsea," Koulibaly said after joining the Londoners. "It's a big team in the world and my dream was always to play in the Premier League.
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“Chelsea came first to get me in 2016 but we didn't make it. Now when they came to me I accepted it because they really wanted me to come to the Premier League to play for them.”
Of course, Chelsea aren’t the only English side to have been credited with interest in Koulibaly over the years. Man City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and even Everton have all been touted as potential destinations for the Senegalese.
And so too have Liverpool. Perhaps the closest the Reds came to making a move for the centre-back came back in the summer of 2017 when, according to Goal , he was one of four defenders the club had identified as a solution to their defensive woes.
The others were Jerome Boateng, Aymeric Laporte and, of course, Virgil van Dijk, with Jurgen Klopp and the club’s recruitment deciding upon the Dutchman. Koulibaly was tipped to be their second-choice, should they have failed to sign him from Southampton, yet they stuck to their guns and didn’t turn their attentions to any of the alternatives even when they were forced to put plans to sign him on hold until the following January.
Liverpool will have no regrets, with Van Dijk having a transformative impact on their defence virtually overnight, with his arrival changing the Reds from top four hopefuls curtailed by a leaky backline to one of the best sides on the continent. A Champions League final appearance would memorably follow in his first few months at Anfield, before helping Klopp’s ranks win every major honour going over the past four seasons.
However, such success never stopped the gossip columns continuing to link Koulibaly with Liverpool, along with an endless list of other potential suitors. Yet the infamous stubbornness of Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis alongside an exorbitant asking-price ensured the centre-back stayed put in Naples year after year.
Which makes his switch to Chelsea all the more curious. Given how difficult a successful swoop for Koulibaly has appeared to be over the years, this long-drawn-out saga is finally at an end with the Londoners seemingly sealing his signature swiftly, with relative ease and at a meagre price.
Having lost both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively this summer, Thomas Tuchel was in desperate need of defensive recruits. And backed by Todd Boehly’s hefty welcoming war chest, Chelsea have signed one of the most respected defenders around.
Yet despite such a reputation, it is still a surprise swoop that came out of nowhere. And given the apparent ease to complete such a deal, in complete contrast to any previous attempts from interested sides, it begs the question how did the Londoners avoid any real competition to sign Koulibaly and overnight succeeded where many before have failed.
With the Senegal international just turned 31, it had seemed that he had missed his chance to join an elite European side. Chelsea clearly had other ideas and, following the success of veteran Thiago Silva at the heart of their defence, were not put off by the Napoli man’s age.
But that perhaps explains why Liverpool never revisited previous interest after successfully signing Van Dijk in January 2018. There’s no doubt that, on paper at least, the Dutchman and the Senegalese could have formed the most intimidating partnership around.
But with Van Dijk, who was 26 at the time of his move to Anfield, already suitably complimented by Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan, Klopp clearly felt no need to enhance his options further. Results on the pitch since then justify such a stance and the faith he had in the options at his disposal.
Since then, when Lovren and Klavan moved on and Liverpool needed to add to their defensive numbers once more, with Van Dijk having already had the desired transformative influence, the Reds opted for a long-term replacement in Ibrahima Konate as opposed to an immediate enhancement that Koulibaly needs to bring to Chelsea.
Only a couple of weeks older than Van Dijk, it’s safe to assume that, should the Senegalese be a success at Stamford Bridge, both will be leading Premier League defenders in the seasons ahead. Meanwhile, Tuchel will hope he can have a similar impact as the Dutchman and help narrow the gap behind Man City and Liverpool at the top of the table.
Yet the Reds have grown beyond the need for an overnight difference. Once Klopp had signed the players to immediately take Liverpool to the next level, their transfer strategy reverted to thinking long-term in a bid to maintain success.
Such a stance was clear when the German was asked about Cristiano Ronaldo’s imminent return to the Premier League last summer, when he admitted such a transfer was never for the Reds.
“It’s not about me to judge that. It’s about if other clubs can do things like this, it’s obviously not business for the future,” he told reporters last August. “In three or four years we will have the benefit of that, it’s for now and immediately if that happens.
“That is how some clubs are obviously working and that is absolutely fine, but there must be different ways. There must be a team a year later and two years later, for us at least. And three years later as well.
“You need success. We felt that if you can win trophies it is great but it’s not, even with the best squad in the world, possible every year. If that’s not possible, you still need to make sure you develop as a team and a club.
“That’s what we did and that’s what we do. Anything else is really not in our hands. We watch it like all of you and will see what happens.”
By signing Konate last summer and tying Gomez down to a new five-year contract earlier this month, Liverpool have already done their business for the future. Thinking of a time beyond Van Dijk, the building blocks are already in place for the Klopp side of three years’ time.
In contrast, Koulibaly is a Chelsea signing for the here and now. While arguably at a defender’s peak, he is not a signing for the long-term future.
By opting for Van Dijk over the Senegalese five years ago, Klopp has been able to enjoy the best of both worlds. Ensuring the presence of a defensive lynchpin for the majority of the next decade, the Reds closed the gap at the top as Chelsea will look to do now.
And with Konate and Gomez around, Liverpool’s succession plan for the future is clear. In contrast, Chelsea are making it up as they go along, as shown by the need to replace both Rudiger and Christensen this summer, and by the short-term nature of putting their immediate fate in the hands of the brilliant but ageing Thiago Silva and Koulibaly.
As Klopp warned, “There must be a team a year later and two years later...and three years later as well.” As good a signing as Chelsea’s new £33m man could be, the 31-year-old is “obviously not business for the future.”
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