Chelsea now 'open to offers' for £33m star at Stamford Bridge | OneFootball

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GiveMeSport

·8 February 2023

Chelsea now 'open to offers' for £33m star at Stamford Bridge

Article image:Chelsea now 'open to offers' for £33m star at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea would be open to listening to offers for Kalidou Koulibaly in the summer should any arrive, journalist Simon Phillips has told GiveMeSport.

The central defender has lost his spot in Graham Potter's side to new signing Benoit Badiashile, and Phillips says the Blues are now willing to sell him.


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Chelsea transfer news - Kalidou Koulibaly

Koulibaly only joined Chelsea last summer, but he has struggled since arriving at Stamford Bridge.

In fact, Phillips recently informed GMS that the 31-year-old has not been able to settle in London.

He now faces a battle getting back into Chelsea's team, with Badiashile having started in all of their last three Premier League fixtures.

The Blues paid Napoli £33m to bring Koulibaly to west London last July, as reported by Sky Sports.

What has Simon Phillips said about Kalidou Koulibaly and Chelsea?

Phillips says Chelsea will consider offers for Koulibaly this summer.

Speaking to GMS, the journalist said: "I'm told that Chelsea would be open to listening to offers for him in the summer, purely because they've got Levi Colwill coming back in."

Will Chelsea sell Kalidou Koulibaly in the summer?

There is a good chance. He is currently not a starter, while it also appears that he has not been able to adapt to life in England.

As well as that, as Phillips mentioned, Colwill is likely to remain at Chelsea next season after his loan at Brighton, which could push Koulibaly even further down the pecking order.

According to The Telegraph, Potter has big plans for the 19-year-old, suggesting that he will get minutes in the 2023/24 campaign.

Koulibaly's biggest problem, though, is how well Badiashile has done since coming into the team. With Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk arriving for big money, the Frenchman has perhaps gone under the radar a little bit.

"Benoit is a really good guy, very calm and has big quality with the ball," his team-mate Kepa Arrizabalaga recently told Chelsea's official website. "He’s also strong in the air; he's having a great impact on the team."

There is still time for Koulibaly to turn things around, and he may get an opportunity in the Champions League this month with Badiashile unavailable for selection after not being registered for the competition.

But with the former AS Monaco man looking like the real deal and Colwill potentially staying at Chelsea next season, Koulibaly's future in west London really does appear to be in doubt.

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