As you well know, Manchester United are supposedly interested in Kalidou Koulibaly.
It’s not a secret.
After all, how can it be since the Italian media, regardless of whether it’s online or on paper itself, remind us about it nearly every single day.
It’s understandable since he’s one of the more valuable assets at Napoli, and Aurelio De Laurentiis has made it clear he would sell but only at the right price.
The problem is, there appear to be some confusion about what that amount would be, and reports in the English media suggested there could be some discount, down to about €80m, available this summer.
That story will have come from Italy itself somewhere, since there have been hints this could happen, like this article from Gazzetta dello Sport suggesting the Serie A side ‘cashing in €70-80m isn’t impossible’.
Well, Corriere dello Sport say it is, as Napoli have come out and said they would not ‘devaluate’ their players this summer, meaning the original valuation of Koulibaly stands.
How much is that? Around €100m.
To us, this seems like the ideal way of keeping the group they had this year together, since the Italian club aren’t as strapped for cash as others, so keeping their valuations the same allows them to have a strong starting point in any potential negotiations.
Manchester United have already bid that much for Koulibaly in the past (or so Aurelio De Laurentiis will have you believe), and it’s stated they’re ‘still wondering’ why it wasn’t accepted.
They then went on to spend a similar amount on Harry Maguire a few months later, so whether or not they’d be prepared to do the same again this time around remains to be seen at this point.
