Kalidou Koulibaly admits he ‘misses Napoli, but it was my decision’ to join Chelsea and he is hoping to convince new coach Graham Potter to start him in the Champions League against Milan tomorrow.
The defender spent most of his career in Italy and will be up against some familiar foes on Wednesday evening when the Rossoneri visit Stamford Bridge in the Champions League.
“They have a great team. Milan have a good story in the Champions League. Last year, they won the Scudetto with a lot of good and talented players. They are dangerous. They get some good points already,” said the Senegal international in his press conference.
“We have to be aware that they have a lot of quality in the front and back. They have young players who are used to playing in big games. We have to be aware of everything and to try to win this game is really important.”
An injury crisis has decimated Milan going to London, particularly in attack and defence, but veteran former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has been on remarkable form.
“He’s a big player, showed it in Serie A last year. Scored a lot of goals in Chelsea too. He’s dangerous, we always have to be aware because he can score at every time. We will have a tough time, but we will be ready to win this game.”
Some might’ve questioned Koulibaly’s decision to leave Napoli this summer, considering they are currently top of the Serie A table and have a 100 per cent Champions League record too.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have sacked Thomas Tuchel after an opening defeat to Dinamo Zagreb and new boss Graham Potter hasn’t started K2 yet.
“I’m easy, I know my time will come, we have a lot of games. I will give everything in training. For the moment, I’m working good and give my best to show him that he can use me on the pitch.
“The most important is that Chelsea win this game tomorrow. We absolutely have to win tomorrow. We have prepared to win, I hope we can.”
Koulibaly had some very strong early performances for Chelsea, only to lose confidence as the rest of the team did.
“I was expecting it to be hard. I know it would be hard to move eight years of my life to London to move to one of the best clubs in the world, you always have to work. I know my time will come, it’s a normal process.
“I arrived here two months ago, I do miss Napoli, but it was my choice. I wanted to come to join this club, one of the best in the world. We knew it would be difficult, to go from Italy to England, I knew that. I was ready.
“At the moment, we are going through a normal process. I like it here, I’m very happy to be here. I know Milan very well, they are capable of doing anything.
“Today, I play for a great club. They need me. I will do everything I can to contribute to this team.”