Chelsea spent much of the summer of 2016 chasing after Napoli center back Kalidou Koulibaly, who was feeling underappreciated in Southern Italy and wanted either a new contract or a big-money move to a top European team.
By all accounts, Chelsea tried just about everything possible, going through a succession of bids, starting with €20m and ending at around €50m. With each rejection, Napoli raised their asking price, stringing, teasing, frustrating both Chelsea and Koulibaly. In the end, Chelsea found a solution in getting fan favorite David Luiz back from PSG. But what about Koulibaly? Rumors claimed he had been close to signing a new deal for a few weeks now.
Sono felice di annunciare che Kalidou Koulibaly ha rinnovato il contratto con il Napoli fino al 2021 #ADL
— AurelioDeLaurentiis (@ADeLaurentiis) September 19, 2016
That's evil genius Aurelio De Laurentiis himself announcing the new five-year deal for the center back, but the interesting part is the associated reports, which claim that new contract has a €70m release clause built in. So if Chelsea still want the big man next summer, at least we'll have a non-moving price target to hit.