Chelsea have completed several signings from Serie A in the last 30 years and Napoli‘s Kalidou Koulibaly could be the next one as his agent reportedly met the Blues last week.
The Blues have signed more than 20 players from Serie A from 1992-93. Some of them, such as Gianfranco Zola and Gianluca Vialli, are part of the club’s history, others haven’t left the mark at Stamford Bridge and their latest purchase from Italy’s top flight, Romelu Lukaku, is one of their prominent representatives. With his €113m price tag, the Belgian star is also the most expensive signing in the club’s history.
Chelsea’s bromance with Serie A clubs was quite intense in the summers of 1996 and 2003. Zola, Vialli and Roberto Di Matteo joined the Blues at the end of the ’90s, while the Roman Abramovich era began with Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu.
Kalidou Koulibaly could be the next Serie A star joining Chelsea with his agent reportedly holding talks with Thomas Tuchels’s side. The Blues have also targeted Matthijs de Ligt and Gleison Bremer, but Bayern Munich are now leading the race for the Juventus defender and the same goes for Inter with Bremer.
Inter’s Milan Skriniar is also an option for Chelsea. PSG have been in talks with the Nerazzurri for several weeks, but haven’t yet closed the deal. The Serie A giants want €70m for the defender.
Bayern Munich director Hasan Salihamidzic met Juventus on Monday, but the Old Lady rejected the Bavarians’ first offer (€60m plus add-ons). De Ligt has already agreed personal terms with the Bundesliga giants.
Bremer also has an agreement in principle with Inter who are waiting to sell Skriniar before making an official offer to Torino for the Brazilian defender.
Chelsea’s done deals in Serie A in the last 30 years
2021
Romelu Lukaku from Inter
2019
Gonzalo Higuain from Juventus (January, loan)
2018
Emerson Palmieri from Roma (January)
Jorginho from Napoli
2017
Antonio Rudiger from Roma
Davide Zappacosta from Torino
2016
Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina
2015
Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina (January)
2009
Ricardo Quaresma from Inter (January, loan)
2006
Andriy Shevchenko from Milan
2003
Hernan Crespo from Inter
Adrian Mutu from Parma
Marco Ambrosio from Chievo
2000
George Weah from Milan (January, loan)
Mario Stanic from Parma
Carlo Cudicini from Castel Di Sangro
Christian Panucci from Inter
1999
Gabriele Ambrosetti from Vicenza
Didier Deschamps from Juventus
1998
Pierluigi Casiraghi from Lazio
Marcel Desailly from Milan
1996
Gianfranco Zola from Parma
Roberto Di Matteo from Lazio
Gianluca Vialli from Juventus
1995
Ruud Gullit from Sampdoria