Kalidou Koulibaly has joined Al-Hilal

Kalidou Koulibaly leaves Chelsea for Saudi Arabia as defender joins Al-Hilal


Kalidou Koulibaly has left Chelsea after only one season to join Saudi Professional League side Al-Hilal.

Senegal captain Koulibaly moved to England last summer from Napoli on a four-year deal in a transfer reported to be worth £34million.

The centre-back went on to make 32 appearances for Chelsea during a difficult season, but has now departed Stamford Bridge.

A club statement read: “We would like to thank Kalidou for his contributions on and off the pitch during his time at Stamford Bridge and wish him well for the next stage of his career.”

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Koulibaly is not the first Chelsea player to make the move to Saudi Arabia. N’Golo Kante agreed to join Al-Ittihad on a free transfer following the expiration of his deal with the Blues.

A number of high-profile names have moved to the Saudi Professional League during the past six months.

Karim Benzema has already agreed to join Al-Ittihad after 14 seasons at Real Madrid, following Cristiano Ronaldo who moved to Al Nassr from Manchester United in December.

Wolves captain Ruben Neves has also agreed a £47m move to Al-Hilal.

After Koulibaly and Kante, Chelsea outcasts Edouard Mendy, Romelu Lukaku and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have also been linked with moves to the Gulf state.


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