It appears S.S.C Napoli is bent on selling Kalidou Koulibaly, lowering their asking price to get a deal done. At least three teams are interested in the services of the 29-year-old player. Manchester City has been singled out as the club leading the race. The other teams interested in the Senegal defender are Manchester United and Liverpool.
From a high of $100 million, Napoli has slightly lowered its asking fee for Koulibaly. The asking transfer fee is now at $81 million. Though that new asking fee is $15 million lower, it remains a stiff price to pay - especially for someone who will be turning 30 next year.
With Napoli relaxing its asking price, there is a chance that it may go lower. Most clubs are dealing with financial distress and $81 million remains a stiff amount to settle.
Of the three teams, pundits feel that City is likely to be the one to become aggressive. Pep Guardiola is looking for defensive reinforcement for Aymeric Laporte. There were two players the Sky Blues tried out - John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi. Both were given the chance to win the confidence of Guardiola against Bournemouth. Unfortunately, their performance was far from convincing.
Liverpool is practically thinking the same thing. However, no talks have been reported so far.
In the case of Manchester United, it becomes a bit tricky. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is unaware of how much he can spend this summer and they do have their targets. The most notable of them all is Jadon Sancho, someone who costs a hefty $141 million. Should United pursue him, they are unlikely to have sufficient funds to go after Koulibaly.
Koulibaly admits that he has read about his name in the papers and that transfer talks have been bothering him. He prefers to stay with Napoli but knows that this is no longer under his control.
"We will see what the president (Aurelio De Laurentiis) will decide and if he proposes to extend my contract, that would allow me to end my career here," Koulibaly said.
Since arriving in 2014 from Genk, Koulibaly has established himself as one of the best center-backs in the league. He has appeared in 239 matches so far. There is no telling how many more games he can suit up for the club. This may all depend on how negotiations progress moving forward. Until that is settled, Koulibaly will have t find a way to focus on games and ignore transfer rumors.
