Manchester City 'Make Bid' for Napoli Defender Kalidou Koulibaly
Manchester City are actively pursuing the signing of Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who is widely recognised as one of the best defenders in the world, but the exact details of the potential deal remain the subject of conflicting reports.
City are in the market for two centre-backs this summer and have already completed the £40m signing of Nathan Aké. Pep Guardiola is determined to strengthen a defence that leaked 35 goals in the Premier League this season, compared to 23 and 27 in the previous two.
Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Tah and Milan Skriniar have all been under consideration at one time or another. But it is Koulibaly who now seems to be the primary target for City, who are expected to let both Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones leave the club this summer.
Information originally published by Napoli-based publication Il Mattino has claimed that City have made an offer worth €55m (£49.5m) for Koulibaly, presented to club president Aurelio de Laurentiis by the player’s agent, Fali Ramadani.
However, that was considered to be too low for Napoli, while it is added that the personal terms offered to the player are not dissimilar to what he already earns. The implication there is that Koulibaly would expect to receive an improved wage were he to make the switch.
That version of events contradicts an earlier story originating from Corriere dello Sport, shared in English by Sport Witness, in which it is claimed City have offered €70m (£63m) plus add-ons.
The same Corriere report describes City’s pursuit of Koulibaly as being ‘mad and suffocating pressure’ and further claims Ramadani has personally met De Laurentiis on the island of Capri off the Sorrento coast, where Napoli players were expected to head to unwind after their season ended.
However, Sport Witness highlights a conflicting claims from Sky Italia reporter Luca Marchetti, who suggested that Ramadani was in Milan rather than Capri and that was where he met De Laurentiis.
As for how much Napoli are seeking for Kouliabaly, De Laurentiis actually quoted €90m (£80.9m) when he spoke to Sky Italia at the start of August. A figure of that magnitude would make the Senegal international the most expensive defender in history. Whether Napoli will achieve their expectation or accept a lower offer will become clearer in the coming days and weeks.
“Kalidou is a wonderful person and of course it’d be sad to lose him. Everything has a time and a place, even when it comes to going our separate ways. Having said that, we don’t have €90m on the table,” De Laurentiis said at the time.
One British tabloid report has alleged that City could use Otamendi or left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko as makeweights to try and lower the cash asking price, given that Napoli are said to have enquired about the availability of both players.
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