Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed that Kalidou Koulibaly turned down a lucrative five-year contract to stay at Napoli before joining Chelsea.
The defender joined the Blues on a four-year deal earlier this month for a fee of around £33 million, and was a rare bright spark in their 4-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday.
He had already carved a reputation as a world-class defender before arriving at Stanford Bridge and led Senegal to the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.
Speaking to Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli, De Laurentiis said: 'I let Koulibaly go because he told me he still has a few years of playing ahead of him.