Manchester City will spend the summer trying to fix their shaky defense, and they reportedly already identified the perfect man for the job. According to English media, Man City is considering a bid for Napoli’s reliable center back Kalidou Koulibaly.
Koulibaly emerged as one of the best central defenders in the world in recent seasons, with the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea being interested in his services for some time now. However, Man City is looking to beat them to the punch and have already informed Napoli about their interest in the 29-year-old Senegal international.
Sources close to the situation say that the holdup is in the transfer fee City would be required to pay for Koulibaly. Napoli previously asked for $115 million for the player but is reportedly willing to settle for a figure of $100 million. Premier League side, on the other hand, offers around $75 million.
Despite the differences in the value of the deal, former England international and BBC Sport commentator Ian Wright recently said that the two sides are in the final stages of the negotiations.
“I’m hearing Koulibaly might be done with City,” said Wright during a chat with Premier League Production.
Kalidou Koulibaly joined Napoli in 2014 from Belgian side Genk in a transfer worth around $9 million. Since then, he played 240 games in all competitions with the club while helping them to Coppa Italia trophy. Koulibaly was named in the Serie A Team of the Year in each of his previous four seasons in Italy while being named Serie A Defender of the Year in 2019.
