“I think they may have found him” – Garth Crooks says Chelsea have ‘special’ player on their hands after draw with Spurs
Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Garth Crooks has heaped praise on Chelsea summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly for his performance against Spurs.
Chelsea and Tottenham played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the Premier League on Sunday (August 14). The match was summed up by Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte's feud that culminated in both of them being shown the red card.
Starring in the game for the Blues was Koulibaly, who made his home debut for the club following his £33 million move from Napoli. The centre-back opened the scoring for Tuchel's side in the first half with a strong volley.
Koulibaly has been brought to Stamford Bridge to replace Antonio Rudiger, who has joined Real Madrid on a free transfer. The 31-year-old thus has huge boots to fill as the German was integral to Tuchel's side in the last year-and-a-half.
Chelsea really replaced Antonio Rudiger with Kalidou Koulibaly 😮
What a signing! ✨ https://t.co/VmI8PmQEf2
Impressed with Koulibaly's display against Tottenham, Crooks believes Chelsea have found the perfect replacement for Rudiger in him. The former Spurs forward claimed that the Senegal international replicated his Napoli excellence against Conte's side on Sunday. He wrote in his BBC Sport column:
"Chelsea needed someone a little bit special to replace Antonio Rudiger and I think they may have found him."
"Koulibaly was outstanding for Napoli under Carlo Ancelotti and developed an excellent reputation for his competitive nature while in Italy - he needed all of that against Spurs."
Crooks went on to wax lyrical about the way in which Koulibaly found the back of the net for the Blues. He wrote:
"There can't be many defenders in the world who can score a goal like he did. This was a good home debut for Koulibaly, even though his side did concede two goals."
"Chelsea played well and Tottenham's best player was manager Antonio Conte, who is not to be messed with."
Koulibaly has helped the London giants earn four points from their two Premier League matches so far.
Chelsea keen to signing another centre-back
Apart from Rudiger, the Blues have also seen Andreas Christensen leave the club on a free transfer this summer. They are thus keen to sign at least one more centre-back before the window closes.
Tuchel's side have been credited with an interest in signing Leicester City's Wesley Fofana in recent weeks. However, they will reportedly have to fork out £80 million to sign the 21-year-old.
Exclusive: Wesley Fofana is becoming increasingly frustrated at #Leicester. Feels he is being priced out of dream move to #Chelsea - unhappy that club want more than £80m Maguire fee. Breaking in the #TransferShow at 7pm, online and here: skysports.com/transfer-centre #LCFC https://t.co/ZQ4DyVNhQz
Fofana, though, is growing frustrated about the price tag Leicester have set for him. According to Sky Sports journalist Lyall Thomas, the Frenchman feels he is being priced out of a move to Stamford Bridge.