One former Chelsea player has been speaking about how happy he is at his present club.
Chelsea had such a huge clearout in the last summer transfer window.
Many key players left the club, including the likes of former captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Kai Havertz.
Kalidou Koulibaly also departed Stamford Bridge despite having only arrived the previous summer.
There were also quite a few big arrivals, with Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia joining the club for huge fees. The former is now the most expensive signing in Chelsea’s history.
Former Chelsea star had to leave Stamford Bridge
Chelsea’s 2022/23 season was one to forget. Two managers, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, were sacked, and the team ended up finishing in 12th place.
It was a particularly difficult campaign for Koulibaly, who has admitted that.
Speaking about his exit and move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, the central defender told the Daily Mirror (page 70, 09/06/2024): “I had a difficult year at Chelsea, and I wanted to see something else.
“When they called me, I studied up about the club, and I’m really happy to be here today.”
Why did Kalidou Koulibaly find it so difficult at Chelsea?
In the end, Koulibaly just could not make the transition from Serie A to the Premier League.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly revealed that Koulibaly told him that he was trying to adjust to having to run while think in the English top flight, something that the Senegal international claims he did not have to do in Italy.
Koulibaly, though, never managed to fully adapt it seems and thus decided to join Al-Hilal in a £20m deal.
It was no loss, as Chelsea went on to bring in Axel Disasi from AS Monaco, while Levi Colwill returned from his loan spell at Brighton & Hove Albion.