Napoli Slap Huge £80m Price Tag on Star Defender Kalidou Koulibaly Amid Chelsea Interest

Chelsea will reportedly have to pay as much as £80m to secure the signing of long-term target Kalidou Koulibaly this summer.

According to the Mirror, Serie A runners-up Napoli have set the price tag high in order to avoid becoming a 'feeder club' to Chelsea.

This follows the arrivals of both Maurizio Sarri and Jorginho at Stamford Bridge, who have both joined the Premier League giants from Napoli.

Sarri guided the Serie A club to a second-place finish in their league last season, and is highly regarded for his managerial ability - despite having to defend himself over a significant amount of controversy over recent years.

He replaces Antonio Conte in the Stamford Bridge hotseat, with a clear change of direction needed if the club are to become Premier League champions once more. Sarri was the man to fit the bill for Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea hierarchy.

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Meanwhile, Italy international Jorginho joins Chelsea for a fee of £50m, despite having been heavily linked with a move to Manchester City throughout the summer transfer window.

The Mirror report that hefty add-ons could take the fee for any potential Koulibaly deal to over £100m, which would be a huge fee to pay - even for a club like Chelsea.

The fee becomes even more substantial when you consider that they have been heavily linked with a move for Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain.

Koulibaly started all three games for Senegal at the World Cup in Russia this summer, with the 27-year-old impressing in those games as his country held their own in their group, despite not progressing to the last 16.

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Chelsea have been targeting the defender 'for years', backing out of a decision to pay £50m for the centre back just two years ago.