Chelsea boost as Lorenzo Insigne's agent talks up move while Kalidou Koulibaly has 'gentleman's agreement'
The Blues reportedly launched a £100m double bid this week
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea have been given hope of landing two of their key targets this transfer window after the respective agents of both Lorenzo Insigne and Kalidou Koulibaly revealed their clients are open to moves.
Reports emerged this week that the Stamford Bridge club had submitted a double bid of nearly £100 for the Napoli pair, with £53m of it on Insigne and £44m on Koulibaly.
After the departure of John Terry, Chelsea need another defender and Koulibaly is someone who Conte has been chasing since last summer, before eventually signing David Luiz after being priced out of a move for the Senegal international.
According to Premium Sport Napoli have a gentleman’s agreement with Koulibaly that will allow him to leave if the club receive a bid of £52m.
And Koulibaly’s agent looks more open to the move for his client this time around after he admitted that turning down a “world class team” like Chelsea would be difficult.
“Koulibaly? The transfer market is long as it will be open until August 31, something might happen before then,” he told Mondo Napoli.
“Chelsea? They are a world class team that many players would like to join but I don’t want to talk about this now.”
Insigne is wanted to replace Diego Costa after Antonio Conte told the striker he would not be at Stamford Bridge next season via text message.
The 26-year-old hit 18 goals for Napoli as they finished third in Serie A last season and his agent as admitted that while there is interest in him from Chelsea, they will need to bid higher than the £45m reported by The Sun.
“I would start by saying the offer reported in The Sun would be low and he has always been in the sights of many clubs,” his agent Franco della Monica told Radio Kiss Kiss.
“The priority for Lorenzo, though, is to be wearing the Napoli shirt and to be rewarded in an important way by his team. Now he has both and he is happy as well.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments