Manchester United need a center-back to pair with captain Harry Maguire. Ben White, Kalidou Koulibaly and Gabriel Magalhaes are some options the club are linked with.
Victor Lindelof is decent but is unreliable and hasn’t lived upto his potential. The Swedish defender has a poor 52% tackle success rate, awry defensive awareness and is ineffective.
Koulibaly is the perfect answer to their defensive fragility. According to 90Min, Manchester United were ready to fund the €90m price tag.
However, it now feels that Manchester City could hijack the deal as Manchester City look for reinforcements. According to Sky in Italy, Napoli are convinced that City are front-runners to secure Koulibaly’s services and are ready to negotiate. This is because City defender Eric Garcia wants to join Barcelona. City didn’t buy any replacements for departing club captain Vincent Kompany last year.
Fernandinho shifted to the defense but he is aging too. City signed Nathan Ake and have Aymeric Laporte but both are left-footed. The Citizens need a right-footed center-back and Koulibaly is the perfect answer
The Senegal International has managed to concede lesser that 1.5 goals this season keeping a clean sheet ratio of 20% in his 25 appearances for the Naples in Serie A. Napoli boss Gennaro Gattuso wants some cash to invest in young players by selling Koulibaly.
Given United’s lack of proactiveness in the transfer market, the Reds could loose Koulibaly to City just like they did with Bernardo Silva.
However, there are some good news for United if Ed Woodward wants to land Koulibaly. City have bitter relations with Napoli.
Remember City’s pursuit for former Napoli midfielder Jorginho? Gianluca Di Marzio understands that Napoli sold Jorginho to Chelsea after confirming terms with City. City are still unhappy and the negotiations are still uneasy.
Buckle up, Ed!
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