Kalidou Koulibaly Reveals That Chelsea Legend John Terry Hung Up When He First Called Him to Ask for Shirt 26

Kalidou Koulibaly Reveals That Chelsea Legend John Terry Hung Up When He First Called Him to Ask for Shirt 26

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:08 PM
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  • John Terry initially thought that someone was trying to prank him when Kalidou Koulibaly called him to ask for jersey number 26
  • Terry eventually confirmed that it was actually the new Chelsea player who was trying to reach out and he accepted his request
  • Koulibaly will be looking to replicate the tremendous success that Terry achieved while wearing the shirt for Chelsea

New Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly has confessed that John Terry hung up on him when he first called him to ask if he could take over his shirt number.

Koulibaly and Terry share the same affection for shirt number 26. Terry wore the number during his long and illustrious career at Chelsea. Since his exit in 2017, no other player has worn it and Koulibaly saw it was prudent to ask for blessings.

Kalidou Koulibaly, Chelsea, John Terry, 26, Thomas Tuchel, Napoli, blessings, joke, prank
Kalidou Koulibaly will wear shirt 26 for Chelsea going forward. Photo by Darren Walsh.
Source: Getty Images

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But, as the Mirror reports, things did not go to plan as Koulibaly has envisaged. Terry thought it was a prank. He hung up immediately and called Chelsea's team manager to ask him what was going on.

At the beginning he didn't believe that it was me. He thought it was a joke. He called the team manager to ask if it was me.

Terry eventually agreed to Koulibaly's request. The Senegalese international penned a four-year contract at Chelsea and is expected to be a vital cog of Thomas Tuchel's defence. Sports Brief had reported that Koulibaly had posted the video of his discussion with Terry on his social media handles.

Koulibaly hits out at Napoli's president for saying he will never buy African players

At the same time, the 31-year-old has lashed out at Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis for saying that he would never buy African players again unless they commit to withdrawing from the Africa Cup of Nations.

De Laurentiis stirred emotions when he publicly declared that he had asked that no African players be recommended to him.

Sports Brief reported that joining the bandwagon to voice his dissatisfaction with the comments of De Laurentiis, Kalidou Koulibaly, who spent eight years at Napoli before joining Chelsea this summer, asked the 73-year-old to show more respect to the continent's flagship competition.

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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)
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