Speaking recently on the Why Always Us? podcast, Manchester City correspondent for The Athletic, Sam Lee, provided an update on the club’s pursuit of Napoli defender, Kalidou Koulibaly.
Since moving to Napoli from KRC Genk in what was a £6.98 million deal back in 2014, Koulibaly has gone on to make 246 appearances for the club, chipping in with 10 goals and providing five assists along the way.
At the Serie A side, the 29-year-old has established himself as one of the most highly-rated centre-backs in football, with his £58.5 million Transfermarkt valuation ranking him as the third most valuable player in his position in the world.
This summer, the defender has been heavily linked with a move away from the Italian side, with both Manchester United and Manchester City said to be keen on adding Koulibaly to their ranks for the 2020/21 season.
However, it would appear, from recent reports, that Pep Guardiola’s side seems the most likely destination for the Senegal international this summer.
Speaking on The Athletic’s Manchester City podcast, Why Always Us?, Lee shared that he believes that the defender’s move to City is “almost done” and that if the club do not manage to complete the signing of Koulibaly then “they will have really had a shocker”.
He said: “I think it’s almost done. I’ve said before, the whole Koulibaly thing, the reason I think they will get it done is because they’ve said before, they don’t want another ‘Harry Maguire’. In the sense of Koulibaly, that means they’ll pay up eventually. That’s why I think they’ll get it done.
“You would say that by haggling for so long, it is risking another ‘Harry Maguire’, or even another ‘Jorginho’, especially as it’s Napoli.
“I think the difference now is, apart from obviously Chelsea are spending these kind of figures, you’re not going to have many clubs who could come in and say: ‘Well, City aren’t paying this figure, we will pay it.’ So, I think that’s why City think they can afford to be a bit more casual with it.
“I’d heard earlier in the summer that [Aurelio] De Laurentiis had told Koulibaly that he could go for €80 million, so I was thinking, ‘Okay, for City, if they get to €70 million, plus a couple of bonuses, that’ll do it’, but apparently what De Laurentiis has been telling City is that he wants €90 million.
“If I’m going to put my neck on the line and guess, I don’t think it’d be too much longer before they get something done and if they don’t, then they will have really had a shocker, but I do think they will.”
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From Lee’s comments, then, it would certainly appear as if he is confident of City’s move for Koulibaly being successful.
Considering that it was reported earlier this year that Pep Guardiola would like to bring in two new centre-backs and knowing that City have already signed Nathan Ake from Bournemouth in the current transfer window, this is certainly very good news for both the club and their fans.