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Former Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez has given his thoughts on the club's new signing Kalidou Koulibaly. He also stated that the Senegalese could be overconfident at times. He added that the defender could find it difficult to adjust to the Premier League after playing in Serie A with Napoli since 2014.
Koulibaly, 31, joined Chelsea this summer from Napoli for €40 million on a four-year deal with a salary of €10 million per season.
Speaking about the Senegal captain, Benitez told The Athletic (via Metro):
"He must improve his concentration at times. He can be guilty of losing focus and can be overconfident, but he has been hugely influential at Napoli and people I know and trust have told me that he has been the best centre-back in Italy during this time."
He added:
"This season will be the Premier League for him and he could be fine for the way that Tuchel wants to play. He has similarities with Rudiger — he is very good at running with the ball, he’s good with both feet."
Benitez added that while Koulibaly was good in Serie A, he could find it tough to adjust to the Premier League especially due to perceived frailties in the air. He said:
"Is he a little bit too nice? We will see what happens at Chelsea. As I said, in Italy he was fine because he was so quick, but I doubt he will be so dominant over here. Aerial ability wasn’t his biggest strength but in Italy that mattered a bit less and he was ok."
He added:
"It will be interesting to see how that develops in the Premier League but he was always very keen to learn. He spent time with me and my staff after training sessions to work on his heading and improving his technique."
Benitez managed Koulibaly during the former's two-year stint at Napoli and won the Coppa Italia in the 2013-14 season.
Chelsea rekindle interest in French defender
According to journalist Gianluca di Marzio, Chelsea have rekindled their interest in signing Sevilla center-back Jules Kounde. They came close to signing the French defender last summer but a deal couldn't go through.
They were interested in him earlier this summer as well, but the deal took a backseat after the departure of Marina Granovskaia.
They were looking to sign Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus. However, the Dutchman has agreed personal terms with Bayern Munich and could join them this summer.
Hence, Chelsea have gone back to working on signing the 23-year-old Kounde. They will have to compete with Barcelona for the France international's signature.
After the departure of Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona, the Blues are looking to bring in reinforcements this summer. They are also interested in signing Paris Saint-Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe.
