According to our colleagues at Sport Zone, Saudi Arabia’s PIF are going after Senegalese international central defender Kalidou Koulibaly to convince him to join this summer. Any deal would require him to be bought out of his current contract with Chelsea, but the former Napoli man is open to the discussions in a move that could see him follow Karim Benzema and other stars of European football to Saudi Arabia this summer.
As reported elsewhere, Koulibaly, 31, has been told that he will be allowed to leave Chelsea this summer as the club plans a considerable clear-out owing to their well-charted “over-recruitment” last season.
PIF have approached the player concretely and would like him to join Al-Ittihad, the club that Benzema has joined, but are willing to allow him to join any other club should he wish.
Talks are ongoing but we are not close to any agreement between any party at this stage – however, there are active conversations to understand how much Chelsea would demand in terms of a transfer fee for their player, who is under contract until 2026.
The player is attracted by the proposal and all parties are expecting more clarity on the matter later this week.
GFFN
