Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has revealed that he spoke to former Napoli team-mate Kalidou Koulibaly about a move to Stamford Bridge for some time.
The Blues signed Koulibaly from Napoli this summer in what looks like a promising deal for the club to strengthen their threadbare defence, and it seems Jorginho had a useful role in luring the Senegal international to west London.
Jorginho made the same move from Napoli to Chelsea back in 2018, and it seems he and Koulibaly have long been keen to play together again.
Now they are reunited in Thomas Tuchel’s squad ahead of the new season, with Jorginho clearly pleased to be reunited with the defender.
As quoted in a report from the Telegraph, Jorginho said: “I pushed! I was like ‘come on, come to Chelsea’. And he was like ‘ah yeah I would like to’. I said ‘just come because it has been a long time since we played together’.
“It probably started last year. It was a lot. we always said as a joke, ‘let’s play together again, let’s play together again.’ But, it never happened properly and when we saw ‘okay maybe it’s not a joke anymore’ we started to be more serious about it.”
“He is an experienced player. not just on the pitch,” he added. “You will see he is a brilliant defender, strong, fast, he plays on the ball. But as a guy, a person in the changing room he is just amazing. He is such a nice guy and brings a lot to this club.
“I think he was the best choice and I said before when the season was going to end that the first name it has to be is Kalidou Koulibaly. Because of the player he is and person he is in the changing room, he can just add to the club and team-mates.”
Chelsea have done well to bring in both Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling this summer, but it’s clear that more new additions are needed.
Tuchel was not happy after his side lost 4-0 to Arsenal last night, with a lack of progress being made on potential moves for Jules Kounde and Presnel Kimpembe.
Kounde has been linked with Chelsea by Sport, though they now suggest Barcelona are the favourites for the Sevilla defender.
Kimpembe, meanwhile, has been linked with Chelsea by the Times, who add that Juventus are also interested in the Paris Saint-Germain star.