Kalidou Koulibaly spoke to both Didier Drogba and Gianfranco Zola before moving to Chelsea, and the pair of Blues legends warned him of the threat posed in the Premier League.
The summer signing was going through perhaps his best spell of the season before feeling a tweak at the end of the Brentford draw, and the 31-year-old hasn't played since. His absence from the squad, on top of a longer-term injury to Wesley Fofana and Reece James' own injury, has meant that Graham Potter has turned to Marc Cucurella at left centre-back.
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Chelsea have, in general, looked like a better defensive unit with Koulibaly involved under Potter, and his injury has coincided with a dip in results and performances. When speaking about the adaption that he has had to make since coming to England and the task at hand, Kouliably said, "Tuchel and Potter play with a three-man defence, and I was accustomed to playing with four defenders in Naples. One never stops learning. I knew I'd have struggled at the beginning, Zola and Drogba had told me."
Speaking to Corriere della Sera, he also admitted that he wasn't expecting to take to life in the Premier League easily, adding, "[The Premier League is] The best in the world, not as tactical but more intense. You have to get here after playing in Italy, Thiago Silva and I talk about tactics in Italian.
"I don't know if it was the right choice. It is different for strikers, but defenders need the Italian school of tactics. It's mandatory."
Chelsea also signed Antonio Rudiger from Italy in 2018 as the German joined from Roma. Rudiger went on to be one of the best-performing defenders in the world after Thomas Tuchel took over in 2021, but his initial time at Chelsea before then had been far from smooth, and he was almost sold in 2020.
Koulibaly was brought in as one of the standout centre-backs in world football after his time at Napoli, a club Zola also played for earlier in his career, and has been expected to replace Rudiger at left centre-back. His experiences of playing with red-hot striker Victor Osimhen in training will no doubt have helped to improve, with the Nigerian being praised by Drogba.
On Twitter, the ex-Chelsea striker commented upon Osimhen's decision to hand a penalty to his teammate during the 4-2 Champions League victory over Ajax. Drogba wrote: "That's a complete striker: unselfishness…the real meaning of "win as A TEAM "!!!! "
Osimhen has been a target for Chelsea after impressing in Naples. He has scored five in his last three league games and is one of the most sought-after young attackers. The 23-year-old has a reported £85m transfer value which may put the Blues off, but if he gets Drogba's seal of approval, then it might be a deal worth pursuing.
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