“I pushed! I was like come on, come to Chelsea” – Jorginho opens up on convincing Kalidou Koulibaly to make Stamford Bridge switch

Chelsea star Jorginho has heaped praise on the Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly and opened up on his contribution in signing him ahead of the new season. Chelsea signed the former Napoli defender in a deal worth £34 million.

Jorginho said that he was persuading Koulibaly to sign for Chelsea from last year and that the 31-year-old was also looking to shift from Italy to England. Speaking about his role in the signing of the club's new defender and his former teammate at Napoli, Jorginho said, via Sky Sports:

''We always said as a joke: 'Let’s play together again, let’s play together again'. It never happened properly and when we saw that okay, maybe its not a joke anymore, we started to be more serious about it.''

"I pushed! I was like, 'Come on, come to Chelsea'. And he was like, 'Ah yeah, I would like to'. I said ‘just come’ because it has been a long time since we played together and shared a changing room or be together again."

The Senegalese defender has been backed by the club's legendary centre-back John Terry. The Blues legend said, "Top singing this is" after the club announced the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly.

Blues midfielder Jorginho believes Kalidou Koulibaly is not yet aware of the significance of donning John Terry's jersey number 26 on his back. However, he adds that it won't weigh heavily on him. He said, via The Mirror:

"He has a big personality and I am pretty sure and hope so much that he does so well in the same way. He obviously won’t have the same impact because of the years like all the history that Terry has and he is respectful for Terry. But I hope the shirt number brings him luck."

“I think Kalidou will realise the importance of the shirt number even more over time. Also that he will bring with him respect for that number, showing respect and worth."

The Premier League club had to allow Antonio Rudiger to leave this summer as he joined La Liga giants Real Madrid. Thomas Tuchel has signed Koulibaly as Rudiger's replacement.

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AC Milan make new contact with Chelsea to sign Hakim Ziyech

Serie A giants AC Milan have made a new approach to Chelsea to sign their young midfielder Hakim Ziyech ahead of the new season, according to Sports Bible. The 29-year-old Moroccan international signed for the English club in 2020 from Ajax.

However, the club is not happy with the development of the midfielder due to persistent injury issues and his incosistency on the pitch. Considering reports of his growth in the last two years, Tuchel has opened the door for his exit, should an agreeable offer come and the player is ready to make the move.