On an eventful day for the Brazilian centre-back, he also missed the team flight back after the win on Merseyside after he was picked for doping testing. Silva posted on Instagram that due to the random test he was unable to make the flight back to London and was forced to take a three-and-a-half-hour drive back to the capital instead.
Silva has revealed that the new-look Chelsea back three don’t communicate in English to each other on the pitch, as Koulibaly does not yet speak the language. “Normally we speak in French,” Silva said after Chelsea’s pre-season win over Udinese. “Because Edou[ard Mendy] does too, and Azpi, it worked well. The communication is not a problem, we can speak many different languages together.
“He [Koulibaly] is a player with a lot of experience. He played in Italian football, which for me is the best defensive schooling you can possibly receive. He is ready for our ideas.”