Reports: Barcelona to beat Chelsea and sign €60 million-rated defender

Sripad
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Smart move!

What’s the story?

Barcelona are set to make a move for Kalidou Koulibaly according to reports in Mundo Deportivo. The centre-back was a top target for Chelsea but the Catalan side are now leading the race.

Reports have suggested that Napoli are willing to sell the defender but are looking for at least €60 million. They are also willing to sanction the move only at the end of the season and not in January.

In case you didn’t know...

Chelsea have been chasing Koulibaly ever since Antonio Conte took over at Chelsea. The defender was reportedly the #1 defensive target for the manager last summer and this summer.

However, the Premier League champions failed to agree a deal with the Serie A side and the move did not materialize.

The heart of the matter

Ernesto Valverde wants to sign a long-term partner for Samuel Umtiti and has asked the board to sign one as soon as possible. The club have got Koulibaly on the radar and are now holding talks with Napoli for him.

Reports suggest that Barcelona's sporting director, Robert Fernandez has been personally keeping an eye on the defender and is a huge admirer of him.

Antonio Conte will not let Chelsea go down without a fight and will urge the club to push for the defender. He rates the Senegalese defender very highly and is desperate to add him to the squad as Gary Cahill's or David Luiz's replacement.

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Author’s Take

Koulibaly is a brilliant defender who's confident on the ball and is a very rough tackler. His presence itself terrorizes the opponents strikers and his ability to push anyone off the ball is tremendous. Whoever ends up signings him will be benefiting a lot from this and will have a very good centre-back in their team.

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Edited by Sripad