Kalidou Koulibaly to Manchester United is back. The defender has been linked to the Premier League club for over a year, with repeat claims in the Italian media, seemingly encouraged by Napoli, that €100m was offered last summer and rejected by Aurelio De Laurentiis.
The stance for a long time has been that United offered that amount, regardless of whether that’s true or not, and that any interested club would have to match it. That’s seemed wholly unrealistic given Koulibaly didn’t have his best season, and at 29 years of age he wouldn’t have a great sell-on value.
Gazzetta dello Sport report that after spending €180m between January and July, Napoli now need to bring in €150m before the window closes, which is a big ask. That’s why Koulibaly to Manchester United is being pushed again, and it’s stated the Premier League club have shown willingness to pay €70m for the defender.
Should no other clubs come in, and no ‘new negotiations’ are held, then Koulibaly will ‘eventually move to England’ for €70m, because such an amount ‘cannot be refused’ given Napoli’s thirst for cash.
There’s a chance Manchester United’s name is being used to flush out interest from elsewhere, but signing the player for €70m, or maybe even less, sounds a lot more attractive than €100m.
