Chelsea vice captain Jorginho has made an honest admission regarding new signing Kalidou Koulibaly and his squad number.
The 31-year-old was reunited with Jorginho after the pair shared a strong relationship during their time together at Napoli.
Joining the Blues for £34 million this summer, Koulibaly became Thomas Tuchel’s second signing of the window, following the arrival of Raheem Sterling.
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With both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen departing on free transfers in the summer, with Cesar Azpilicueta’s future also in doubt, Chelsea were keen to bring in defensive players during the window.
Koulibaly was the first addition, while Sevilla’s Jules Kounde has heavily been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, having been a long-term target for Tuchel’s side.
Speaking upon joining the club, Koulibaly said: “I am really excited to be here. I was looking forward to being with the team.
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“I was in London three days ago. I was excited to be in this city, to play for this club.
"I want to thank the staff, the coach who wanted me, the boss. Everybody was really nice with me. I feel home.”
Koulibaly has been handed the shirt number 26 for Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States, with it unclear as to whether he will keep this number for the season.
However, it looks increasingly likely that he will do so after Jorginho’s latest comments.
As quoted by the Mirror, the Italian said: “I think Kalidou will realise the importance of the shirt number even more over time. Also that he will bring with him respect for that number, showing respect and worth."
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The Italian continued to reveal that he had previously held conversations with his former Napoli teammate regarding a move to Chelsea.
He continued: “It was a lot. We always said as a joke: 'Let’s play together again, let’s play together again.' It never happened properly and when we saw that okay, maybe it's not a joke anymore, we started to be more serious about it.
"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 and shared a changing room or be together again."
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With Koulibaly looking increasingly like he will wear Chelsea’s iconic number 26 shirt, the Senegal international will follow in the footsteps of Blues legend John Terry.
Terry goes down as one of the greatest players to ever play for the club, coming through the Cobham academy to captain the side during his time at Stamford Bridge.
It remains to be seen as to whether Koulibaly can live up to the expectations, taking on the additional pressure of the number 26.
Topics: Chelsea, Jorginho, Kalidou Koulibaly, Football, Premier League
Nick Emms