Jorginho Backs Kalidou Koulibaly to Succeed at Chelsea, Reveals Role He Played in Transfer

Jorginho Backs Kalidou Koulibaly to Succeed at Chelsea, Reveals Role He Played in Transfer

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:07 PM
In this article:
English Premier League logo
ENG Premier League
England
Jorginho logo
Jorginho
Arsenal logoMItaly logo
  • Kalidou Koulibaly has been backed to perform well at Chelsea by the club's vice-captain Jorginho
  • Koulibaly and Jorginho shared a dressing room at Napoli, and the latter has no doubts that the defender will be a massive player for Chelsea
  • The domineering defender wore John Terry's shirt number 26 in preseason, and it is highly likely he will retain it for the upcoming season

Jorginho has expressed confidence that Chelsea's latest recruit Kalidou Koulibaly will excel at the club.

Koulibaly officially completed his move from Napoli to become Chelsea''s second signing of the summer after Raheem Sterling.

Jorginho, Kalidou Koulibaly, Chelsea, Napoli, Thomas Tuchel, John Terry, Number 26
Jorginho and Kalidou Koulibaly celebrate in a past match for Napoli. Photo by Marco Bertorello.
Source: Getty Images

The experienced defender arrives at Chelsea when the club is short of defensive options following the departure of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.

Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

And despite the notion that the Premier League is fast-paced and more technical than the Serie A, Jorginho has backed Koulibaly to adapt quickly to life in England.

John Terry's shirt number

The Senegal captain was handed the iconic jersey number 26, which was worn by the legendary John Terry. He made his debut in the 4-0 loss to Arsenal but was arguably Chelsea's best performer on the night. It is unclear if he will retain that shirt number for the new season.

Sport Bible reports that Jorginho reveals how he convinced Koulibaly to join him at Chelsea. The pair had a wonderful relationship in Naples before Jorginho moved to England.

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.

Koulibaly will be expected to play a key part in Thomas Tuchel's defence alongside Thiago Silva. Jorginho, meanwhile, could become the club's captain as Cesar Azpilicueta continues to be linked with a move to Barcelona.

Thomas Tuchel impressed with Kalidou Koulibaly's debut

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Thomas Tuchel had rated Kalidou Koulibaly's debut for Chelsea after the Senegalese made his bow for the Premier League giants during his side's defeat against Arsenal in a Florida Cup match.

The Blues were humiliated 4-0 by the Gunners at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando barely days after they lost to minnows Charlotte FC in post-match penalties.

A rejuvenated Arsenal side fired from all angles from the blow of the whistle, with new boy, Gabriel Jesus, scoring the opener inside 15 minutes of action.

Authors
Martin Moses photo
Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
Tags
Thomas Tuchel