Chelsea open to selling £33m plaver after less than six months

Chelsea are open to selling veteran centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly just months after his arrival at Stamford Bridge, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato.

The Blues offered the 31-year-old a four-year deal after securing a deal with Napoli to sign him for a reported fee in the region of £33million in July.

At first, many expected it to be a rather safe bet for Chelsea. After all, Koulibaly is an experienced top defender as well as a leader on and off the pitch.

However, the Senegal international has not had the start he would have liked at Chelsea. He likely needs more time to adapt, but Chelsea desperately need someone ready to replace the void left by Antonio Rudiger.

The defender struggles to deal with the pace of the game in the Premier League which often leads to his desperately making fouls on the pitch.

He averages 1.2 fouls per game (Opta) in the Premier League this season, the second highest at Chelsea after Kai Havertz.

Thiago Silva, in comparison, averages 0.3 fouls per game.

Calciomercato claims that the Chelsea board now consider Koulibaly “transferable” with a return to Serie A mentioned as a possibility.

Interestingly, another Italian outlet La Repubblica recently claimed that Inter Milan see the former Napoli captain as a potential replacement for Milan Skriniar.

Ideally, Koulibaly can prove his doubters wrong in the second half of the season, since he has shown at Napoli that he can be a reliable, consistent wall at the back