The Italian sport media won’t give up on Kalidou Koulibaly to Manchester United, and it feels like the motivation for it all is coming from Napoli themselves.
Wanting to talk up the value of the player, it’s been repeatedly claimed Manchester United made a huge offer for the defender last year, which was rejected by Napoli, and that they haven’t given up on their interest.
Gazzetta dello Sport are the latest with the claims, also linking Liverpool and Arsenal this time.
It’s stated that in October, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said: “I refused €100m from Manchester United, but if they offered me the offer again, this time I would think twice about rejecting it.”
Whether he’s been telling the truth or not is questionable, and even so it’s unlikely United would return again with such an amount, but that’s the figure wanted. They’ve since signed Harry Maguire, and Koulibaly hasn’t had a great season with Napoli.
He turns 29 years of age in June, and Gazzetta say Napoli don’t want to give a discount on their €100m valuation. That figure is just unrealistic in the current market, and central defence doesn’t seem like the area Manchester United will be spending the majority of their budget.
Nevertheless, Gazzetta insist the club are still in the race.
