{"id":29528,"date":"2023-06-26T19:46:09","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T19:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=29528"},"modified":"2023-06-26T19:18:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T19:18:09","slug":"koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal","title":{"rendered":"Koulibaly leaves Chelsea for Saudi\u2019s Al-Hilal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Kalidou Koulibaly has become the latest Chelsea player to move to Saudi Arabia after the defender completed a transfer to Al-Hilal for an undisclosed fee.<\/b><\/p>\n

The centre-back, 32, joins Ruben Neves at the Saudi Pro League side following the Wolves midfielder\u2019s \u00a347m switch.<\/p>\n

Chelsea midfielder N\u2019Golo Kante has also agreed to sign for Saudi champions Al-Ittihad, while team-mate Edouard Mendy is close to joining Al-Ahli.<\/p>\n

Koulibaly signed for Chelsea from Napoli last July on a four-year deal.<\/p>\n

He arrived at Stamford Bridge with European and international experience, after helping Napoli win the Italian Cup in 2020 and Senegal claim the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022.<\/p>\n

But he played just 32 games for the club in all competitions, scoring two goals in 23 Premier League appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my first game to my last, it was an honour to wear this badge,\u201d Koulibaly said on Twitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast season wasn\u2019t the one we wanted, but I want to thank the fans and everyone at the club for your support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chelsea did not disclose how much Al-Hilal have paid for Koulibaly \u2013 but reports suggest it could be as much as \u00a320m.<\/p>\n

Koulibaly\u2019s arrival in Saudi Arabia follows a recent trend from European clubs that started with Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s switch from Manchester United to Al-Nassr in January.<\/p>\n

Karim Benzema followed from Real Madrid to Al-Ittihad at the end of the season, while Arsenal\u2019s Thomas Partey and Manchester City\u2019s Bernardo Silva have been heavily linked with a move in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

The trend underlines the league\u2019s ambition to be one of the top five in the world and follows a decision in June by Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns Newcastle United, to take over four leading clubs in the country.<\/p>\n

There is uncertainty over whether PIF holds a stake in Chelsea\u2019s ultimate owners, the private equity firm Clearlake Capital, although club sources have rejected suggestions of any direct involvement.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the club could well see four of its players join the Saudi Pro League by the end of the summer, with Morocco winger Hakim Ziyech also linked with a move.<\/p>\n

These departures are part of a wider process going on behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge as new manager Mauricio Pochettino reshapes his squad.<\/p>\n

Germany forward Kai Havertz is due to join Arsenal in a \u00a365m deal and Manchester City have had a \u00a330m bid accepted for Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic.<\/p>\n

The Chelsea rebuild has also seen the arrival of France forward Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig, while Villarreal\u2019s Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson is reportedly due to undergo a medical in London this weekend ahead of a move.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Kalidou Koulibaly has become the latest Chelsea player to move to Saudi Arabia after the defender completed a transfer to Al-Hilal for an undisclosed fee. The centre-back, 32, joins Ruben Neves at the Saudi Pro League side following the Wolves midfielder\u2019s \u00a347m switch. Chelsea midfielder N\u2019Golo Kante has also agreed to sign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":29527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-29528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nKoulibaly leaves Chelsea for Saudi\u2019s Al-Hilal - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kalidou Koulibaly has become the latest Chelsea player to move to Saudi Arabia after the defender completed a transfe ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Koulibaly leaves Chelsea for Saudi\u2019s Al-Hilal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kalidou Koulibaly has become the latest Chelsea player to move to Saudi Arabia after the defender completed a transfe ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-26T19:46:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/06\/sm_1687788500.520267.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Koulibaly leaves Chelsea for Saudi\u2019s Al-Hilal\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-26T19:46:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal\"},\"wordCount\":462,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/06\/sm_1687788500.520267.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/koulibaly-leaves-chelsea-for-saudis-al-hilal\",\"name\":\"Koulibaly leaves Chelsea for Saudi\u2019s Al-Hilal - 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