Former Napoli fitness chief Corrado Saccone is confident Kalidou Koulibaly will fight back from his slow start at Chelsea.

Saccone spent six years with Napoli, working alongside the likes of Rafa Benitez and Maurizio Sarri, before leaving for club football in Albania.

And during his time with the Azzurri, he worked closely with Koulibaly and believes the former Azzurri captain will be frustrated with his first season in England.

Saccone told Tribalfootball.com: "Regarding Koulibaly, I can say that he may be facing some difficulties due to the fact that he changed from Napoli where he was a leader and in a place familiar to him."

However, despite Koulibaly's current struggles, Saccone knows the stopper well enough to predict he will fight through this slump and prove himself on the Premier League stage.

He continued, "At Chelsea, he's found a new place with new fans, it's not easy for a player to do this. But despite this, I am sure that he will become very soon an important player and figure for the team and also the fans."

Along with Koulibaly, Saccone also struck up a close relationship with Jorginho at Napoli and says he wasn't surprised to see the midfielder leave Chelsea for Arsenal on deadline day last month. Saccone was at Napoli when Jorginho was signed from Hellas Verona and watched him develop into one of Serie A's best young playmakers under Sarri. The pair would eventually move together to Chelsea in 2018.

He added, “Knowing very well Jorginho I am sure that he made this transfer from Chelsea to Arsenal because he wanted new challenges and to change place after many years of doing very well at Chelsea. I think that he has made a good choice going there."