The Stamford Bridge club have completed their move for Napoli winger Kalidou Koulibaly in a deal worth £34m.
Koulibaly has an excellent reputation and has been linked with other top clubs in England in the past, with Chelsea fans now wondering what he will bring.
Chelsea have signed Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly for £34m to strengthen their rearguard.
His stats from last season show that Chelsea have a formidable presence both on the ground and in the air – and he may not be there when it comes to defensive reinforcements either.
Chelsea are reportedly rekindling their interest in Sevilla star Jules Conte after Nathan Ake decided to stay at Manchester City.
It was important for the Blues to recruit a handful of new faces at the back, given that Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have already left on free transfers.
Tuchel stuck around for a while after their departures, though his ranks would be bolstered soon enough.
The centre-back starred in Italy last season and Sportsmail have taken a look at his stats
Cesar Azpilicueta, who is set to join Barcelona in a £7m transfer, has been told he cannot leave Stamford Bridge until defensive reinforcements are signed. If he were to leave, Chelsea would enter the new season with a very different defence.
Koulibaly, along with experienced veteran Thiago Silva, will undoubtedly be at the heart of this project. He was an ever-present for Napoli last term when fit and possesses far more experience than those who would want to compete for his place.
First, we’ll see how his numbers stack up against the club’s current options – namely, Silva, Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr. The latter two players earned less playing time last year, so it’s worth bearing in mind that this will affect the findings.
In terms of appearances, Koulibaly made 34 in all competitions, fewer than Silva’s 48 but more than Chalobah and Sarr’s 30 and 21 respectively. Amazingly, he also started every one of those matches, underscoring his importance to the Serie A side.
Chelsea competition All competitions Club 21/22 Koulibaly Silvachalobah Sarr appearances 3448 30 21 starts 3441 24 16 minutes 3036 3980 2247 1519 goals conceded 32 36 13 minutes per goal conceded 94.9 110.6 172.8 94.91 Tackles 36 52 16 18 Clear markers 5226Tackle Success ( %) 56.6 69.6 71.257.7 aerial photographs won 58 96 5836 Aerialography ( %) 53 72 5971blocks 29 38 9 9 RETURNS 33 68 3930 DISCOUNT 106 131 8340dribbled Bast by Postonent provided by Opta
Of the games he was involved in, Napoli conceded 32 goals, four less than the 36 Chelsea conceded with Silva in their side. Again, the difference in games played comes into play, but the fact that Koulibaly conceded less than a goal in each game is remarkable.
Chalobah and Sarr conceded 13 and 16, perhaps as a result of their limited minutes.
For tackles, Koulibaly comes first with 53. Behind him is Chalobah on 52, Silva on 46 and Sarr on 26. The winner’s tackle success rate is a respectable 56.6, but that’s down from 69, 6 by Silva and 71.2 by Chalobah.
As seen above, the Blues’ new arrival is also strong in the air and is no stranger to throwing in blocks and cuts. He has been beaten in both these areas, however, by Silva – whose numbers last season were outstanding.
Another aspect vital to the style of play under Tuchel is confidence on the ball and sharp decision-making. This, quite simply, revolves around when a player chooses a shorter option to build from behind, or instead decides to smash it downfield.
Thiago Silva, despite his advanced age, has bettered his future teammate in many metrics
Koulibaly made 106 clearances last season, with Silva recording 131. For passing, the former made 2088, a number well below the latter’s 3702. As a disclaimer, this metric is largely dictated by how each of the teams uses the ball.
Finally, for pass accuracy, Koulibaly’s percentage comes to 87, while Silva’s is 92.7. Chalobah and Sarr’s totals are 89.8 and 88.7, clearly proving that the defender who is set to pull on the club’s famous shirt will need to keep his cool.
In summary for the first table, the results show that Koulibaly is ready to equip himself well for the demands of the Premier League, even if Silva often outplays him.
Handily, for further context, Sportsmail have also compared Koulibaly to the best of the rest. the standout defenders from the other Big Six clubs in the first division.
Ruben Diaz is one of the best defenders in the Premier League and would suit Koulibaly
For this, we have selected Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip, Manchester City’s Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte, Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes, Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Manchester United’s Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane.
Again, the number of minutes played by each of the names above must be taken into account, with Van Dijk in particular being a fixture for his side last season.
This also skews the measurement of minutes per goal conceded, but there are still many notable findings. Koulibaly, as explained above, averages 94.9 minutes between goals, averaged over a full match, and ranks high in the table below.
He is best with Van Dijk’s 140 minutes, while Laporte (113), Matip (123.5) and Dias (99.7) also top his efforts. However, Manchester City and Liverpool tend to attack more than they defend, while Napoli usually came under more pressure last year.
KOULIBALY VS THE BEST OF THE BIG SIX All club competitions 21/22 KoulibalyVan Dijk Laporte Matip DiasMagalhaesMaguireRomeroVarane Appearances 3451 44 43 40 38 37 30 29 Starts 34 51 43 42 37 37 35 29 26 Minutes 3036 4620 3757 3706 3291 3265 3168 2552 2362Goals conceded 32 33 33 30 33 39 50 33 29 minutes per goals who acknowledged 94.9 140 113.8 123.5 99.7 83.7 63.4 77.3 81.4Clean sheets 12 28 1719 13 7 6 63.6 59.3 63.6AERIAL DUELS Won 58 185 69 140 61 57 94 61 74th Success (%) 53 78 63 71 56 58 72 63 76 Blocks 29 17 12 17 2731 2413Intecopings 33 49 31 51 31 152 54 28 Clearanes 106 161 86 86 115 86117 114 90 98Dip.
In the clean sheet column, Koulibaly’s 12 is middle of the road again. Van Dijk has 28, while Matip at 19, Laporte at 17 and Diaz at 13 put them ahead of him. However, the new Chelsea man comfortably beat the other four contenders.
Koulibaly’s 53 tackles last season are the second highest in the table, behind the combative Matip’s 59. Again, this could be affected by how Napoli set up their bench, but this is an achievement that will surely please Tuchel.
It’s worth noting, though, that Koulibaly’s tackle success rate of 56.6 per cent is the second lowest – with everyone stopping Laporte from improving on his form last year.
For aerial duels won, while Koulibaly’s tally isn’t one for his new manager to turn his nose up at, his tally is beaten by several of his top rivals. Van Dijk won 185 in the air and Matip finished with 140, both of those numbers being a best of 58.
Virgil van Dijk boasts the best numbers from last year, but Koulibaly’s stats are impressive
A scan of the blocks and interceptions columns shows that, in both areas, Koulibaly has plenty to bring to his new team. He is ranked second for the former and fourth for the latter – again indicating he has an all-round game in his arsenal.
One area that needs improvement is opponent dribbling. That happened to Koulibaly 17 times last season, roughly once every two games, and while that doesn’t sound bad, others in the Premier League have been more consistent.
In comparison, Van Dijk has been beaten just five times, the second-highest tally behind Koulibaly, which comes from Romero’s 13. Maguire, much-maligned by United fans for his mobility, was fouled 12 times.
Finally, there are no major concerns in the passing department. As explained above, Koulibaly has proven to be capable in possession, as is necessary in the modern era of the top flight, and his numbers match his peers.
