Napoli have all but made it clear that they will not sell star defender Koulibaly to any club this season as they prepare to offer him a new and an improved contract. After sacking Antonio Conte, the Blues hired Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri and the Italian with him took the star of Napoli’s midfield Jorginho to the Stamford Bridge, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis was so fumed with Sarri that he went on to make a statement that the Senegalese international will not be sold to Chelsea at least and since have rejected advances from Manchester United also.
Koulibaly was one of the best defenders in the league last season, He played 35 games for the Naples in Serie A alone and even scored 5 goals and chipped in with an assist, Koulibaly is one of the best ball playing defender currently and has a passing accuracy of 91% no wonder Sarri wanted him badly at the Stamford Bridge as their aren’t much defender’s at Chelsea who can make such moves from the back which helps the philosophy the Italian is trying to instill at the south West London club.
Manchester United are also in a desperate search for a central defender and were monitoring the situation of Kalidou Koulibaly but after the antics of Chelsea they might also look elsewhere, There were reports of the Red Devils agreeing terms with Barcelona defender Yerry Mina and it was also reported that they had offered the Spanish giants close to €40m for the Colombian international but there no leads as of yet that have Barcelona have accepted the bid or not, The Catalans acquired the 23 year old from Brazilian club Palmeiras for a sum of €11.8m in the winter market making him the first ever Colombian to play for the club. Mina didn’t not live up to expectations at Camp Nou and hence the La Liga champions are open to the idea of selling him.
The Red Devils are also following the situation of Tottenham Hotspurs defender Toby Alderweireld and a few reports coming out of British media state that they will make it official in the next 48 hours as they have agreed personal terms already with the Belgian international and have also tabled an offer of £60m for the 29 year old, with Marcos Rojo set to leave for Everton for about £30m, Jose Mourhino would get his hand on one of the best defenders of the Premier League and with the Belgians experience in the back line would they go all the way and get their hands on the first Premier League post Sir Alex Ferguson era?
Coming back to Koulibaly, Napoli President spoke to Sky Sport Italia he said “Koulibaly, who is the best in his role, has renewed with us for five years. We said no to a €90m offer for him, there were three teams ready to take him” So this puts a full stop on Chelsea’s attempt to land him and they should also like Manchester United look elsewhere to sign a world class central defender.
