Speaking recently on the Chasing Green Arrows YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano provided an update on Manchester City’s pursuit of Napoli centre-back, Kalidou Koulibaly.
Since arriving at Napoli from KRC Genk in what was a £6.98 million deal back in 2014, the 29-year-old has gone on to feature 247 times for the club, chipping in with 10 goals and providing five assists along the way.
Last season, the Senegal international highly impressed in Napoli’s Champions League campaign, averaging a WhoScored match rating of 7.19 over his seven appearances – ranking him as the club’s second-best performer in the competition.
It has been no secret that Manchester City have been keen to add the £58.5 million-rated Koulibaly to their squad over the course of the summer transfer window, with Pep Guardiola’s side reportedly having an offer of £53 million for the defender turned down by the Serie A side, who are looking for a fee of around £71 million to part with the centre-back.
Romano provided an update on City’s potential deal for the defender when speaking on the Chasing Green Arrows YouTube show.
He said: “About Koulibaly and Manchester City – they are still in talks. Manchester City are considering [Jules] Kounde from Sevilla, they have many options because they don’t have any agreement at the moment with Napoli for Koulibaly – Napoli want €75 million.
“There are talks about Paris Saint-Germain [making a move for Koulibaly] – they had some talks with his agent but there is nothing advanced at the moment; Napoli have not received any bid from Paris Saint-Germain.
“So, we have to see what will happen about the situation of Koulibaly, because, in my opinion, he will be one of the most hot situations in the last few weeks [of the transfer window].”
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From Romano’s comments, it would appear that City and Napoli are still some way off agreeing a deal for the transfer of the defender, in addition to the fact that Guardiola’s side also have “many options” for other signings at centre-back, including Sevilla’s Kounde.
However, the journalist does say that he expects the situation of Koulibaly to be “one of the most hot situations” in the remaining weeks of the transfer window, so we will certainly be keeping an eye on City’s potential move for the 29-year-old over the coming weeks.