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What is the story?
SSC Napoli's superstar centre-back, Kalidou Koulibaly has been linked with a number of clubs. A few reports suggest that the Senegal international could leave his current club in the upcoming transfer window.
According to RAI journalist Ciro Venerato, Koulibaly could leave his current side, but he will not join Manchester United in the approaching summer. He also claimed that the Red Devils could seal the deal for AS Roma's Greek defender, Konstantinos Manolas.
In Case you didn't know...
Manchester United are going through a vital stage of the season as Solskjaer's men have already faced 3 defeats in 4 matches. United's defence has played a major part in those defeats.
United have the defenders like Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Marcos Rojo and Eric Baily. Ignoring Victor Lindelof, each of the defenders has failed to convenience Ole as the Norweigan still finds a perfect duo for their backline.
United hold the 6th position with 61 points from 32 Premier League matches. A small mistake could blemish their whole season. This season, Red Devils' defenders have conceded 46 goals (same as 15th-placed Newcastle United). The United management will be looking to bring to a superstar centreback at Old Trafford.
The heart of the matter...
The Italian journalist claimed,
“Kalidou Koulibaly at United for 150 million is bull****. In fact, they are talking to Raiola for Manolas who has a €36m termination clause."
He also claimed that the elite clubs like Barca and Real would never pay £100 million for the centre-back as he said,
“Barcelona and Real Madrid are looking for a central defender, but neither club has the will to invest that money for Koulibaly."
According to Venerato, Napoli will not sell the Senegalian superstar in just £100 million.
"Napoli is serious, it starts to sit at 140 million, at 100 it does not sell it. Napoli does not need to sell the player."
"If Napoli really have to give away Koulibaly, they will ask for a monstrous figure. Koulibaly remains in Naples, he is the idol of the fans and is happy with Ancelotti. In a year the clause will go off but the Napoli is safe: in a year I doubt that someone will sign him for those figures (€150m)."
He also added,
"There’s four or five players that he will want to keep that are out of contract that he needs to tie down. There are four or five players that he’ll need to bring in. And there are probably four or five players that he needs to get out."
"So if you think about that in terms of the job over the next two or three months, you’ve got probably 12 live situations: four players we need to sign on contracts, four players we need get into the club and four players we need to get out for the most money possible."
What is next?
Manchester United host Barcelona in the Champion League quarter final's first leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. Messi and co. could give a hard time to United's defenders. If Man United want to sign some big names, they need to qualify for the Champions League next season first.
