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Manchester United have had a £30 million bid for Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly turned down.
The Premier League side want to sign a new defender this summer to partner Harry Maguire, and have been heavily linked with Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane.
However, it appears that he is not their only target, with Koulibaly also in their sights.
Like many clubs, Napoli have been badly affected by the pandemic, and it was hoped that their financial situation would persuade them to part with the Senegalese international for less than half their previous valuation of him.
However, they are determined not to sell their best assets on the cheap.
This is by no means that Koulibaly has been associated with a move to the Premier League. Manchester City wanted to sign him last summer, but, because of the intransigence of Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentis, turned to Rúben Dias instead.
Koulibaly is reported to be unhappy at the Serie A club and wants to experience a new challenge.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.