Manchester City are yet to complete a deal for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly because of their refusal to talk directly with the Italian side.
That’s according to journalist Enzo Bucchioni, who backs up claims that the relationship between the two clubs isn’t great because of the Jorginho affair two years ago.
Manchester City believed they had wrapped up a deal for the Italian midfielder in 2018 only for Napoli and Jorginho to go behind their back and agree on a deal with Chelsea, where he eventually ended up with manager Maurizio Sarri.
That episode means relations between the two clubs are not the best, with it claimed that ‘wound’ is still something that ‘burns’ for City.
Thus, negotiations for Koulibaly, which have been ongoing for several months, are complicated as they are being done via the player’s agent Fali Ramadani.
That is something we’ve seen Napoli aren’t particularly happy about, with Aurelio de Laurentiis reportedly demanding that Manchester City send him a formal offer via email before he will sanction a deal.
Bucchioni does not confirm that is the case but does back up reports of their being strained relations between the two clubs.
“But why does De Laurentiis not sell Koulibaly?” he writes on Tuttomercatoweb.
“Very simple, because the City does not want to speak directly with Napoli for the rude (for them) made with the sale by Jorginho at Chelsea two years ago.
“They’re using an intermediary making everything more complicated. Offered seventy million, De Laurentiis wants more.
“But not to sell the defender this year would be a big mistake, he has already depreciated after a season made of ups and downs, and you can see that he wants a new experience.
“Among other things, this money will be used to close operations of the Veretout type and more, so selling Koulibaly is urgent and will be done.”
