Newcastle United are in the process of changing owners after Mike Ashley reportedly accepted a £300m bid from a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Foot Mercato in France reported the Tyneside club have officially contacted Napoli to ask about Kalidou Koulibaly.
It’s claimed the Magpies need a fee of around €80m to take the centre-back away from the Serie A side.
Paris Saint-Germain are also credited with an interest in the Senegal international.
Even though he’s courted by the Ligue 1 winners, Le10 Sport states the defender has a preference to move to England.
They echo claims made by Foot Mercato and further explain Newcastle’s interest in Koulibaly ‘is real’. In addition to this, the Naples club’s star would have ‘already received’ a lucrative proposal from Steve Bruce’s side.
According to the report, an annual salary of €12m (likely after tax) awaits the player, if ‘he were to accept the challenge from Newcastle’.
Although there have been claims of interest from Manchester United and Manchester City, Le10 adds the 28-year-old has not heard from either of them.
Newcastle are the first Premier League side to have taken ‘concrete’ steps to sign him and the new challenge at St James’ Park could potentially seduce Koulibaly to accept their offer.
