According to a tweet from Sam Lee of The Athletic, Manchester City are working on a deal to bring Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly to the Etihad Stadium.
Koulibaly has been a mainstay in the Napoli side since 2014 and rumours about him leaving the Italian club have been circulating for a number of years.
Manchester City Working on a Deal for Kalidou Koulibaly
What Do We Know About the Deal?
The tweet said that Lee didn’t know what stage they were at with the negotiations, but he knows that City are working on it.
This news comes after reports from Italian publication Corriere Dello Sport that Liverpool made a £54 million bid for the defender last week to partner up with Virgil Van Dijk next season.
However, Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis wants close to £90 million for the centre-back. This price is putting many Premier League clubs off making a move for the Senegalese defender.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, however, the big teams in Europe might be working with a slightly lower transfer budget. This means if De Laurentiis wants to sell the player he might have to look at selling him for cheaper than his asking price.
Other Clubs Involved?
As previously mentioned, according to reports, Liverpool made a bid last week for the defender.
Elsewhere, Manchester United were rumoured to have had a £95 million bid rejected in January. Although this was rejected then, De Laurentiis is likely to accept a similar offer now. United have been known in recent years for splashing the cash, so could Koulibaly be another of their big-money signings?
Chelsea have also been interested in the Napoli defender. However, after already signing Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner for next season, this now seems unlikely.
Where Would Koulibaly Fit in the Manchester City team?
Koulibaly would most like slot straight into the Manchester City defence. Their current centre-back options are John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Nicolas Otamendi and Eric Garcia.
In the past 12 months, Stones has struggled to hold his place down in the defence. Injury and poor form has meant that he’s only been apart of 12 Premier League games all season.
Fernandinho has moved from his favoured defensive midfield role into defence for a lot of the season to cover for him.
Laporte would probably be the centre-back to play alongside Koulibaly if he can stay fit. Over recent seasons he has picked up a multiple of injuries and because of this, he has only featured ten times in the league this season.
Otamendi has played the most out of all four, by playing a total of 21 games. Meanwhile, Garcia has mainly been used as a backup. City have struggled with their depth at centre-back all season, so bringing in a player like Koulibaly would sort this out.
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