SSC Napoli may have dodged a bullet with Manchester City opting to take in Ruben Dias. The deal lowered the chances of seeing Kalidou Koulibaly leaving San Paolo Stadium, giving Gli Azzurri some breathing room.
Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli is confident that Koulibaly will stay and play on for Napoli. He feels the team is complete following key acquisitions made in January, Sky Sport Italia reported.
"The team was completed in January with Stanislav Lobotka and Diego Demme, who can play in a few different roles. With Amir Rrahmani, [Victor] Osimhen and [Andrea] Petagna, we are complete, so will now try to release players who won't have much time on the pitch,” Giuntoli said. "I think Koulibaly is staying, we are very happy and so is he. I believe that he is staying."
Unfortunately, club manager Gennaro Gattuso is not letting his guard down. The 42-year-old said that the only time he may heave a big sigh of relief is once the transfer deadline expires.
"I hope he remains with us, selfishly speaking, because he gives us so much both in technical terms and as a character,” Gattuso said. "The world has changed because of the pandemic and I realise all clubs need to balance the books. I hope the call won't arrive, but I'll be nervous about it until transfer deadline day."
Though City may be out of the picture, it remains that there are still clubs who remain linked to the Senegal national. That includes Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Liverpool. Though none of the clubs mentioned have ramped up interest, anything can happen in the coming week.
Regardless, Napoli is expected to stay the course and treat Koulibaly as a regular player for the rest of the way. The 29-year-old played an important role for Gli Azzurri when they won over Genoa. The club has yet to concede a goal in Serie A and Napoli has been a big reason for the club’s perfect start.
But the interest in Koulibaly stems from his previous performances. Last season, he helped Napoli claim the Coppa Italia, the first title of the club since 2014 – the same year he arrived. Though bigger things await, Gattuso cautioned all not to be deceived by the team’s success. That included their last match.
"If Piotr Zielinski hadn’t scored 30 seconds after the restart, it would’ve been a very different match. We have to focus on improving and finding the right balance, because we need balance in order to play this type of football," Gattuso said.
