Man City ‘prepare second offer’ for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly as Pep Guardiola looks to land another defender
Manchester City have reportedly reignited their interest in Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly this summer as Pep Guardiola looks to add another commanding centre-back to his ranks.
City have already sealed the signing of Nathan Ake from Bournemouth in a £41million deal but another defender is being targeted as the club looks to regain the Premier League title in the 2020/21 season.
Koulibaly is one of the finest centre-backs in Europe
According to Italian outlet La Repubblica, City are ready to ‘relaunch’ their efforts to sign the former Genk man.
Koulibaly, who was strongly linked with a move to Manchester United last summer, has established himself as one of the finest defenders in Europe since his move from Genk in 2014, making 246 appearances for the Serie A giants.
However, a stumbling block in the deal is that Napol value Koulibaly at £81m – a price which City believe is too high for a 29-year-old.
It is understood City are only prepared to offer as much as £63m, leaving the two clubs far apart in terms of the final fee.
Van Dijk has been outstanding since joining Liverpool in 2018
talkSPORT co-host Ally McCoist believes Koulibaly can have a similar affect to Van Dijk at Liverpool if a top Premier League club can prise him to the England.
“The key signing for Liverpool was Van Dijk, and I think [that position] is so important for a number of top clubs,” the Rangers legend said on talkSPORT Breakfast last month.
“In that I include Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City definitely need to strengthen in the centre-back position and I also think Manchester United need to strengthen there.
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“I think Harry Maguire has done fine, but there’s a question mark over Lindelof and you certainly need strength in depth.
“The name I keep going back to is the lad Koulibaly at Napoli, who has impressed for a long, long time now.
“I don’t know whether there have been moves to try and get him out of Napoli, or whether he’s happy there, the big Senegalese defender.
“But I think he is the one target a lot of top Premier League clubs would and should be looking at.”
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