Kalidou Koulibaly Travelling To United States To Meet Chelsea Squad Ahead Of £34 Million Transfer

Kalidou Koulibaly is travelling to the United States to meet up with his new teammates after completing his transfer to Chelsea.

The 31-year-old has passed his medical ahead of the move and is set to be unveiled as a new Chelsea player.

A £34 million move from Napoli will see Koulibaly become the second signing of the summer after Raheem Sterling joined the club from Manchester City.

Thomas Tuchel will be pleased with the addition after admitting that he is in the market for central defenders this summer.

Speaking previously, he said: "We need some centre-backs – at least two to replace Andreas and Toni.

"We have Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta) at the moment in our squad, and we plan with him, but there are talks going on about his personal situation and what we want. We will be very open with you, so that makes it three.

"I think with Thiago (Silva) in the middle, Toni on the left, and Azpi or Andreas (on the right), we had the best back three in the world. Not a lot of teams play with a back three, but this was a fantastic back three.”

And now, Koulibaly is set to join up with his new teammates as they continue their pre-season training camp in the United States.

As reported by Nathan Gissing, the Senegal international is on his way to join his new teammates in America.

He said: "Kalidou Koulibaly has signed his deal with Chelsea, €40m transfer fee. He is now flying to LA to join his teammates for pre-season."

Chelsea boss Tuchel was said to be ‘driving and pushing’ interest in Koulibaly, who was previously linked with the Blues during Antonio Conte’s tenure.

With a year left on his contract in Napoli, Koulibaly has been allowed to depart and join the London club.

He has put pen to paper on his deal, a four year contract as he looks to challenge himself in Tuchel’s system.

The defensive additions will not stop there, with Tuchel looking for at least one more signing at the back.

The Blues are said to be ‘re-working’ on bringing Jules Kounde to the club after talks over a transfer fee had previously broken down. 

Despite Chelsea’s interest in Nathan Ake and personal terms being agreed with the Dutchman, a deal is off as Chelsea did not meet his £45 million valuation.

Therefore, they must look elsewhere in the transfer market for a player to link up with Koulibaly in the Blues’ backline this summer.

It remains to be seen as to when an announcement for Koulibaly will take place, with Sterling having been unveiled a day after arriving in Los Angeles.