The transfer window truly appears to be kicking into action for Chelsea. Raheem Sterling has finally announced his departure from Manchester City, and the Blues could be set to complete two deals very swiftly with the pace of progress over Kalidou Koulibaly.
The Blues are confident a deal will be done for the Napoli defender as Thomas Tuchel looks to bring in replacements for Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, while the likes of Nathan Ake remain options to bring to Stamford Bridge.
Koulibaly has been a stalwart of Serie A and has been linked with a move to west London in various transfer windows over the last six years, and the 31-year-old now looks set to complete a move. The defender was not present for Napoli's first open session of the summer, and reports suggest an agreement between the Italian side and Chelsea could be made for in the region of £32 million.
Sterling's arrival will see him become the highest-paid player at the club and is set to inform any negotiations with Mason Mount and Reece James. His contract will provide some indication of how Chelsea's wage structure will look under the new ownership led by Todd Boehly. Any agreement with Koulibaly is likely to do something similar.
Rudiger saw negotiations over his contract slow due to a discrepancy in the fee he hoped to garner and what Chelsea were willing to offer. That does not appear like it will be an issue for Koulibaly, whose weekly earnings appear to have been pitched around £160,000/week. However, it has been suggested he could sign a five-year deal, and that may raise a few eyebrows for those who have followed the club.
Whether the bargaining power transcends beyond Mendy remains to be seen. Chelsea's next group of players approaching 30 includes Hakim Ziyech, Mateo Kovacic, Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi. It's not unforeseeable that only Kovacic will remain at the club beyond the summer and the 28-year-old's current deal runs until 2024. It might not be a coincidence that is when he reaches 30.
Bringing on Koulibaly on such a contract may bring up some extended conversations over contract length but would seem not to put Chelsea in a difficult position for the moment.
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