Despite the Catalans' interest, the Partenopei President explains why the Lion of Teranga refused to sign for them.

Aurelio De Laurentiis, president of Napoli, has provided an explanation for why defender Kalidou Koulibaly was transferred to Chelsea despite being linked to Barcelona.

The 33-year-old Senegal international signed a €40 million four-year contract with Premier League team Chelsea to complete his time with the Serie A giants.
The Blaugrana were among the teams interested in signing the player, though, according to De Laurentiis.

"Koulibaly wanted to go, but I refused to sell him to Barcelona because they lacked the funds,"" According to Barcauniversal, De Laurentiis revealed this during a chat program with Radio Kiss Kiss.

He went on: "Then Chelsea made a deal, and it was difficult to refuse.

Koulibaly eventually made his debut for the Blues in a 4-0 thumping against Arsenal at Camping World Stadium on Saturday after missing Chelsea's loss to Charlotte FC on their tour of the United States.

Only 20 seconds remained until the game's conclusion when Koulibaly entered the game, but the Blues lost due to goals from Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Thomas Tuchel, the manager of Chelsea, cited Koulibaly's debut as a plus despite the team's loss.

"The best player was him. When questioned about Koulibaly's cameo performance, Tuchel said, "He was incredible excellent, I have to say. He added: "On an evening where nothing felt nice, this felt extremely good."

On Friday, Chelsea will play their final preseason match against Udinese at Dacia Arena before beginning their Premier League campaign on the road on August 6 against Everton at Goodison Park.