It’s no secret Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly was a transfer target for Chelsea during the summer transfer window.
The Premier League side reportedly offered big money for the Senegalese defender, and the player also pushed for a move, but Napoli’s president Aurelio de Laurentiis was in no mood to let him leave after the Serie A club qualified for the Champions League.
De Laurentiis has been speaking ‘on the fringes’ of the Sports Business Summit conference in London, and his comments has been covered in today’s Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Napoli president was asked about a possible €58m offer for Koulibaly from Chelsea, to which he replied: “I would not now say that is not true, that I was offered that much money to get the defender.”
De Laurentiis insisted he didn’t want to discuss the transfer this summer, but could be open to negotiations next summer for Koulibaly.
He added: “I replied that this year he wouldn’t leave the club. Maybe, we could talk about it next.”
It’d be interesting to see if Chelsea would return for the 25-year-old next summer, with Andreas Christensen also returning from loan.
