Chelsea Boss Tuchel Highlights Koulibaly Leadership

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says Kalidou Koulibaly is already a leader amongst the squad.

Koulibaly will be back this week for their clash with Southampton this week after serving his suspension for his dismissal in defeat at Leeds United.

Tuchel said, "Yes, he is already (a leader).

"He's a fantastic player and has a fantastic personality. I am so happy with what I see, not only that we convinced him to come to the club but how he behaves and trains. I see a lot of quality and everything that is needed to be a leading figure at Chelsea. He will be on the pitch at Southampton, he is a massive player for us, and there's no doubt about it."

Tuchel also put Carney Chukwuemeka on notice due to their midfield issues.

He stated: "It's normally the area I would love to have a headache about who plays and who is on the bench. This is normally the area where I thought we would have five players that could all play for us and have Carney [Chukwuemeka] on top as an option as a young player.

"The headache before the season was whether we had too many players there, but it comes to the fifth game, and maybe we only have two left with experience in this position and Kova from the bench because he is not ready to play full matches at Premier League level as he only had a week after training after his injury.

"It's a strange situation and a situation we don't like. I don't know why we are in this situation, actually. It's like this, and we will have something to think about [over the team selection], or maybe not because it's so obvious who we have left."