Ex-England manager Fabio Capello believes Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly is struggling with the pace of the Premier League.

The Senegalese international only signed from Napoli for £33m in July but the Blues have conceded eight goals in the five matches he has played in so far for his new club. Capello says the centre-back hasn’t yet adapted to English football:

“I would like to talk about the difficulties of Koulibaly at Chelsea. In Naples, he was doing everything by himself. His problems now depend on the speed with which they play in England. It’s the same pace used by Udinese to give Roma fits [in their 4-0 win at the weekend]. It’s something that must make us Italians reflect.”

Koulibaly got off to a good start with a clean sheet against Everton, as well as scoring in the 2-2 draw versus Spurs, but a sending off in the 3-0 defeat to Leeds has shown that he isn’t quite up to speed yet.

The 31-year-old is a very experienced defender so you would back him to get to grips with the intensity of the football in this country but patience may be needed.

Koulibaly is not only getting used to a new league, but he is also having to learn to play in a back three; a system he rarely played during his time in Italy.