Kalidou Koulibaly vows to fight for Chelsea future

Chelsea centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly has assured fans he wants to remain at Stamford Bridge for the foreseeable future.

Signed from Napoli last summer, Koulibaly has struggled to live up to the reputation he created for himself over a number of year in Serie A, with Chelsea as a whole enduring a disasterous season which has left them 11th in the Premier League standings.

The 31-year-old was a regular starter under Graham Potter and has played every minute of the temporary reigns of both Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard, racking up 30 appearances in all competitions.

“I know I’m not at 100% yet, but think I’m coming to my level,” he told The Times. “Chelsea made a big decision to sign me and there’s a big desire in me to give back. I want to be part of this club for many years.

“This is not the year Chelsea were expecting, but sometimes when you have big changes, new proprietors, and half the team is new, everybody has to adapt. But we know how big the ambition is here and we’re going to work to win back the confidence of the supporters.”

90min understands that Koulibaly’s future at Chelsea is by no means certain, particularly with young Levi Colwill expected to return to the senior setup at Stamford Bridge after his excellent loan spell with Brighton comes to an end in the summer.

Aside from his individual future, Koulibaly was keen to give credit to Potter for his work with the team this season.

“It has been a crazy week: for the players, the new manager, the ex-manager, for the supporters,” he explained. “When you change managers, it’s like you failed somewhere. You have to keep on fighting, and we’ll give everything. Our new manager is a big legend, so we have to be behind him. We know we can do better — and we will.

“I sent [Potter] a message. He helped me a lot. It was difficult for me at first, changing country and moving everything after eight years [at Napoli] and I can tell him thank you. He’ll have a good future.”