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Manchester United have taken the lead in the race to sign Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, as reported by Corriere dello Sport via Paisley Gates. The Red Devils are keen to sign a new central defender in the summer transfer market and Kalidou Koulibaly could be a stop-gap solution.
Manchester United currently have Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly as their three established senior centre-backs. However, only club captain Maguire has been able to perform consistently, leaving United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer short on quality players to marshal the backline.
This has coerced the top management at Old Trafford to look for new players in the market. Raphael Varane has been heavily tipped to join the Red Devils but the French defender is unlikely to come on the cheap. Negotiations are ongoing between United and Real Madrid, however, and a final decision is likely to arrive soon.
With Manchester United already signing Jadon Sancho for a reported £73 million, the club will have to keep tabs on their summer spending going forward. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the finances of every football club and United are no exception.
Keeping this in mind, United have also registered their interest in the slightly older Kalidou Koulibaly. The Napoli talisman is currently 30 years old, two more than Varane, and is unlikely to play at the top level for too long. Hence, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has lowered his initial astronomical asking price for Koulibaly to £42.7 million at the present.
What is stopping Manchester United from signing Koulibaly?
For Manchester United, the deal for Koulibaly is likely to only be a stop-gap solution. In all probability, the Red Devils will have to look for his replacement in two to three seasons. This is the primary reason why they are unwilling to match the £42.7 million price tag set by Napoli.
The deal is likely to be made more complicated by the fact that Liverpool and Manchester City are also in the race to sign Koulibaly. Liverpool had a defensive crisis last season due to injuries and will want to sign a few players to keep enough cover in the squad this year.
Manchester City, on the other hand, have a solid backline but head coach Pep Guardiola has been a long-term admirer of Napoli's defensive ace. He will be happy to bring Koulibaly in for a cheap fee this summer.
However, both Liverpool and City aren't as desperate as Manchester United at the moment to resolve their backline issues. This has put the Red Devils in the driving seat for the purchase of Kalidou Koulibaly.
As things stand, the transfer could boil down to Manchester United's ability to make Napoli lower their asking price. An additional factor could be the club's dilemma of whether to choose Varane or Koulibaly. The Red Devils currently seem to prefer the Frenchman due to his age and valuable title-winning experience with Real Madrid.
