Prior to his move to Chelsea, Kalidou Koulibaly wrote an emotional farewell letter to the Napoli supporters.
Koulibaly will soon be formally introduced as a Chelsea player after the club agreed to pay £34 million (€40 million) to secure his long-term services.
The 31-year-old finished Thursday’s physical in London and will follow Raheem Sterling, who signed in a £50 million deal from Manchester City, as the club’s second acquisition of the Todd Boehly era.
Due to his solid performances for Napoli, the Senegal international has been linked with a transfer to the Premier League for some time.
The transfer has now been completed by Chelsea thanks to the free transfers of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.
Koulibaly made 317 appearances for the Italian team Napoli after moving for £6.5 million from Belgian club Genk in 2014.
With the club’s supporters, he developed a strong bond and has paid tribute in an Instagram photo shared with his 1.9 million followers.
Alongside a video showing clips of his stand-out Napoli moments cut with scenes from the city, Koulibaly wrote: “1 June 2014, an unforgettable date: my arrival in Naples, the beginning of a story of pure love. I was a shy boy, but with a great desire to show the world that I could do it!
“Victories, defeats, joys, disappointments. Too many emotions lived together: impossible to summarise them. But I keep everything: in my mind, in my heart.”
