Former Chelsea manager Di Matteo has hailed Chelsea’s new signings Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling.
Chelsea made Raheem Sterling their first signing of the summer after paying £ 45 million for the 27-year-old from Manchester City. The former Manchester City player is now Chelsea’s highest earner with a weekly salary of €300,000.
Sterling was handed the number 17 jersey number. The England international will be expected to bring to bear his experience in the Premier League after helping Manchester City win four Premier League titles in five years.
The Blues also took steps to strengthen their defense by signing Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli on a four years deal for £35 million.
The Senegalese international was assigned the number 26 shirt that was previously worn by John Terry.
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However, Chelsea legend and former manager Di Matteo has heaped praises on Chelsea’s new signings and expects them to have a huge impact on Chelsea this season.
What did Di Matteo say about Chelsea’s new signings Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly?
The Champions League-winning manager with Chelsea in 2010, said via Chelsea’s official website, saying: “Koulibaly and Sterling and two brilliant signings.
“I think they are going to be very important for the team this season and the future.
“They are two players that I think will have a big impact at the club and I’m sure the coach knows them very well in terms of how he wants to utilize them.
“I think they will bring a lot of quality into the side, for sure.”
Di Matteo also revealed that he has been watching the Serie A and monitoring Kalidou Koulibaly.
The former manager added: “Being Italian, I watch Italian football quite a lot and with regards to Koulibaly, he’s a top-class player.
“He will bring physicality, which you need in the Premier League, but also he has a lot of technical ability and he has the tactical awareness that you see from the Italian sides in Serie A.
“So I think he is a good signing for Chelsea. I feel like we are getting a top player who is in the prime of his career, so I can only see positive things.”
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel heaped praises on Kalidou Koulibaly following an impressive debut against Arsenal.
Thomas Tuchel labeled Kalidou Koulibaly as Chelsea’s best player against Arsenal despite losing 4-0.
Thomas Tuchel said: “He was the best player on the pitch for us.
“He was incredibly good I have to say.
“On an evening where nothing felt good, this felt very good.”
Chelsea started with a four-back against Arsenal and later switched to a back three.
The German tactician said: “We discussed this many times. If you want to play three at the back you need to have three in the back. If you don’t, it’s not worth playing three in the back.
“Given Kalidou was only ready for 25 mins today and given who was available, we tried to play 4-4-2. I think it was not a structural problem because we conceded two goals with the back five and two sixes, which we are used to playing.
“It was behavior in the structure. That’s much more important than how we behave. We need to be more lively and aggressive. The level of commitment, the level of physical input, was simply not enough.”
