Manchester City is expected to submit a sufficient €70 million ($83 million) bid for Napoli center back Kalidou Koulibaly, according to Ciro Venerato of RAI Sport (Via Calcio Napoli).
A few outlets came to a consensus for the agreed fee at €70 million before bonuses, but others argued there was agreement already in place with Kalidou Koulibaly and that the fee would be deemed “acceptable” by Napoli chairman, Aurelio de Laurentiis.
Koulibaly's camp said there is still no offer of €70 million from Manchester City, but the club is expected to submit a formal offer in the next 48 hours. Napoli said there has been no “acceleration” of contractual talks over the last few hours.
The Serie A side would reportedly use the money from Koulibaly's transfer fee to net a Gabriel transfer from Ligue 1 side Lille, beating Arsenal's pursuit of the player.
Manchester City has had a steadfast pursuit of Kalidou Koulibaly, despite netting defender Nathan Aké from Bournemouth only weeks ago after a swift bid for midfielder Ferran Torres. Pep Guardiola's side will be aggressive in rebuilding after the likes of Leroy Sane and David Silva have left the club.
If Manchester City can meet that €70 million price tag plus another €5-6 million in bonuses, that would get them close enough to the €80 million asking price that Napoli had from the get-go, likely putting them as frontrunners of this bidding war.
Koulibaly didn't have the best of showings during a UEFA Champions League Round of 16, as his second leg performance against Barcelona left a lot to desire.
He was bumped out of position by his own man in the first Barcelona goal, embarrassed by Lionel Messi in the second, and committed the infraction on the latter that gave the Catalans a 3-1 win two weeks ago.
Many thought his latest performance would be enough to drive his price down or keep a few suitors from pulling the trigger, but it appears Manchester City has not been scared to go with its gut.
The Cityzens suggested a €63 million transfer fee plus bonuses, which was rejected earlier this month. Koulibaly could also receive €9 million per season salary for a four-year contract.
Napoli will need the money soon, as they have a gentleman's agreement with Lille to buy Gabriel before an Aug. 27 deadline.
Information from Football Italia was used for this report.
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