It doesn’t matter how injured Kalidou Koulibaly has been this season or how his form hasn’t been the best, Manchester United will still be linked to him.
The Napoli defender, who was allegedly once the subject of a €100m+ bid from the Old Trafford side, has struggled for fitness and form this year, and is now expected to miss the return leg in the Champions League against Barcelona.
Still, all of this doesn’t put off the Premier League sides interested in his services, with Gazzetta dello Sport naming both Manchester United and Everton, as they already know what he can do.
His performances against Liverpool in the group stages showed exactly what he would be able to do against English opposition in the country’s top league, and it appears it, alongside his previous form, was enough to convince those looking at him.
It’s explained Aurelio De Laurentiis ‘won’t avoid negotiations’ in the summer, even if you would have to ‘ride on expensive numbers’ to get anything done.
That wouldn’t put off United, who have cash to spare, especially if they manage to offload Paul Pogba for the price they want, but it remains to be seen if a €100m investment (that’s the price a few have touted for a summer transfer) would be worthy for a 28-year-old when £80m were already spent on Harry Maguire last summer.
On top of that, they would have to likely increase his €6m/year wages (£100k/week) to convince him to come, which Corriere dello Sport, in their article on the matter, call a ‘monstrous’ deal.
They add that his summer is likely to be ‘hot’, ‘having to live with the expectation that something will happen’ and that, if it does, it will be either between ‘Manchester or Paris’, seen as the most ‘viable destinations’ considering the money needed to get him.
