Despite reports that Liverpool aren’t planning on spending vast amounts of money this summer, the Premier League leaders continue to be linked with big name transfers.
Timo Werner is the recurring one, as his release clause makes him an appetising target for a lot of Premier League clubs, including Jürgen Klopp’s.
However, a new one has appeared in the Italian media of late and refuses to go away: Kalidou Koulibaly, often linked with Manchester United.
On paper, the Senegal international would be a great partner for Virgil Van Dijk at the heart of Liverpool’s defence, and should that transfer somehow be pulled off, it would seriously shore up an already great backline.
We say ‘should’ because the player would come at a price, since Aurelio de Laurentiis wants a lot of money for his star.
L’Equipe on Thursday explain the price ‘won’t reach €100m’, which is the president’s goal, but he also wouldn’t be ‘served on a platter’.
That’s why it’s explained that should De Laurentiis’ demands become ‘unacceptable’ or the interest from both Liverpool and Manchester United become ‘too strong’, then the French side will look elsewhere.
Down his end, an exit from Naples is ‘the player’s desire’, as he ‘wants to live a new experience’, regardless of whether it is in Ligue 1 or in the Premier League, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
It’s once again stated Manchester United had a ‘€100m offer turned down’ last summer for the player, but that was in a healthy market unaffected by a worldwide pandemic.
A lot will come down to what clubs are prepared to pay, because if De Laurentiis finds himself with a big offer, he might end up having to accept it regardless of whether it comes near his €100m valuation or not.
Money talks, and times aren’t exactly easy.
