Journalist Fabrizio Romano has recently provided some details about Manchester City’s chase of Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.
On the latest episode of the Here We Go podcast, Romano was recently talking about multiple potential transfers in European football. He shed some light on Man City’s chase of Koulibaly and he believes that the Citizens are not looking to meet Napoli’s asking price for the player but the defender has been ‘convinced’ about the idea of joining the Manchester-based club.
It has been reported that City are looking at José Maria Giménez and Diego Carlos as potential alternatives for Koulibaly. The same report claimed that City’s valuation of Koulibaly ‘is some way short’ of what the Partenopei want for the centre-back.
When talking about Koulibaly, Romano confirmed that Napoli want €75m (£68.6m) for the defender but the former Genk man has been ‘convinced’ about joining City this summer.
He said: “So in this moment, I’m told that Manchester City, for a centre-back, are not going to spend €120m. They are going to try for €80m [or] €75m – that’s the idea of Manchester City, but not for Koulibaly. They are not going to spend like €80m for Koulibaly; they are convinced the value of Koulibaly is around €65m. Napoli want €75m to sell Koulibaly.”
Should Man City meet Napoli's asking price for Koulibaly?
Yes
No
Romano continued: “So at the moment, there is no agreement for Koulibaly. We will see, because the player also is desperate to understand what will happen. We’re going to start the Serie A [season], he was convinced to join Manchester City, we have to say this. So now, it is up to the club.”
TIF Thoughts…
The 29-year-old Koulibaly has been a regular for Napoli over the last few seasons and has a vast amount of experience of playing in the UEFA Champions League as well.
However, at 29, it could be argued he is at his career peak. His fitness record in the 2019/20 campaign wasn’t too impressive either. On top of that, he is currently valued at £58.50m by Transfermarkt. So it is understandable why Man City don’t want to meet Napoli’s big asking price and it makes sense for them to hold out for a lesser fee.