Ian McGarry has been speaking on the latest edition of The Transfer Window podcast about Manchester City and their pursuit of Kalidou Koulibaly.
McGarry spent a bit of time on this transfer and revealed that City are ‘getting closer’ to signing the 29-year-old.
It seems as if City have made an offer of €60m to Napoli for the Senegalese defender and the deal is getting closer to completion.
He said: “Our information is that the latest offer which has been made by City is €60m plus €3m [in] add-ons.
“That may sound low in terms of add-ons, but of course you’re talking about a 29-year-old, so there’s no real resale value in this player.
“[Aurelio] De Laurentiis has consistently said he’s worth more than that; however, having spoken to someone very close to the deal, I have been informed that an agreement is getting closer, and it is expected that Manchester City will conclude this transfer.”
Do you think this deal will get done?
Yes, we will sign him
No, something will go wrong
TIF Thoughts…
Signing Koulibaly could improve City’s defence because last season Pep Guardiola’s side relied on midfielder Fernandinho to play as a centre-back in 37 games.
This was because Aymeric Laporte was injured for a long time and missed 30 games due to injury last season for City, and instead of relying on some of his other options like John Stones, Guardiola played the Brazilian at centre-back instead.
So, from that, you could determine that Guardiola doesn’t trust some of his available options, and bringing in Koulibaly could give the Spaniard what he is looking for.
City have added Nathan Ake already, but if they signed Koulibaly, then they would be getting a player who excelled in the Champions League last season, as the Senegalese defender earned a 7.19/10 rating from his seven European appearances.
Certainly, this is a positive update from McGarry as it suggests that by the end of the transfer window, Koulibaly will be a Manchester City player.