Imminent Chelsea signing Kalidou Koulibay is saddened to be leaving Naples.

The Napoli defender is being sold to the Blues.

Pierre Preira, the President of the Senegalese Association of Naples, told Il Mattino: “This news brought great sadness to all of us.

“Kalidou always said he considered himself Senegalese, Neapolitan and French, so I imagine the move to London probably saddens him too.

“It is a huge loss for us, both as a sportsman and a man who did so much for our community, far more than people know. We celebrated together for the Africa Cup of Nations victory and had planned another meet-up, which now will be very difficult to organise.

“Every Senegalese person I meet always talks to me about Koulibaly and Napoli, he helped put our country on the football map and made all of us very proud."