Man United could miss out on Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly due to the interest from their arch-rivals, Manchester City – as per reports.
Kalidou Koulibaly has been one of the most talked-about defenders in European football over the past two seasons and it seems like Napoli are finally ready to offload him.
Napoli are not expected to qualify for the Champions League next season which is why they cannot afford to pay the defender’s high wages. And as a result of this, the Serie A outfit have decided to cash in on him in the summer.
Last season, Kalidou Koulibaly was one of the most sought after defenders but this campaign he has managed to play in only 15 league matches for Napoli as he’s been injured during the past couple of months.
But still, this hasn’t stopped Man United from vesting interest in the player and as per the report, the Premier League outfit are willing to pay as much as £74 million for the defender.
Kalidou Koulibaly to Man United?
Yes, Man United are ready to spend a huge sum of money on the centre-back but it seems like they might miss out on him since Man City are also looking to sign him.
City have had real problems at the back this season especially with the injury to Aymeric Laporte and the dip in form of John Stones – the latter playing in only 12 Premier League games so far.
So it’s no secret that Guardiola is looking to bring in a new centre-back in the summer and it seems the Etihad outfit are planning to make a move for Kalidou Koulibaly.
This will be a massive setback for Man United as not only will any top defender love to work with Pep Guardiola but the Napoli man will get guaranteed playing time in case he joined the Blue half of Manchester.
United have had a fairly stable partnership in the form of Maguire and Lindelof meaning Kalidou Koulibaly might have to fight for his place at Old Trafford.
But at City, the player will more or less be a first-choice defender due to the poor form of John Stones which is why he could choose to snub the Red Devils.
As of now, Manchester United are still the frontrunners to signing the player in the summer but it will be interesting to see what happens when their noisy neighbours decide to join the transfer race.
