Italy international Jorginho reveals he had been pushing his ex-Napoli teammate Kalidou Koulibaly to join him at Chelsea for at least a year. ‘We said it as a joke, then realised maybe it’s not a joke anymore.’
The pair played together at Napoli for four years from 2014 to 2018, when the midfielder made the move to Stamford Bridge following coach Maurizio Sarri.
Koulibaly stayed on at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona until the €40m transfer this summer.
The video released by Jorginho shows just how well they got along and he revealed to reporters just how long he had been urging Koulibaly to come to Chelsea.
“It was a lot. We always said as a joke: ‘Let’s play together again, let’s play together again.’ It never happened properly and when we saw that okay, maybe it’s not a joke anymore, we started to be more serious about it.
“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 and shared a changing room or be together again.”
Koulibaly is the replacement at Stamford Bridge for another ex-Serie A player, Antonio Rudiger, who went from Roma to the Blues and now Real Madrid.
“I think he was the best choice and I said before when the season was going to end that the first name it has to be is Kalidou Koulibaly,” added Jorginho.
“Because of the player he is and the person he is in the changing room. He can add to the club and to his teammates.
“He is an experienced player. not just on the pitch. You will see he is a brilliant defender, strong, fast. He plays on the ball. But as a guy, a person in the changing room he is just amazing. He is such a nice guy and brings a lot to this club.”
well done jorginho – now go learn and play faster football – and give yourself a clap