Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has set an eye-watering asking price for centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who is a target for Manchester United.
Koulibaly was said to have been on Jose Mourinho’s wish list of defenders in the summer as he struggled to bring in a defensive leader to his squad ahead of the new season.
| Season | Position |
|---|---|
| 2024–25 | 14th |
| 2023–24 | 9th |
| 2022–23 | 14th |
| 2021–22 | 7th |
| 2020–21 | 6th |
| Season | Position |
|---|---|
| 2024–25 | 16th |
| 2023–24 | 14th |
| 2022–23 | 13th |
| 2021–22 | 10th |
| 2020–21 | 13th |
The Manchester United manager is working towards identifying a target who the Manchester United board would be prepared to invest in during the January window.
There are suggestions that if the club are prepared to spend big on a defender in January, Mourinho would ideally look to recruit Koulibaly, but it seems he could be priced out of a move.
De Laurentiis indicated that he won’t shy away from asking for a fee close to the €200m mark if any club want to snare Koulibaly away from Napoli in the near future.
“If someone is worth €180m to €200m, I will say it”, the Napoli president told French daily Le Parisien.
“I can say that for Koulibaly, the best defender in Europe is, our estimate is between €150m to €200m.
“But he is not for sale.”
Koulibaly signed a new and improved contract with Napoli in September.
| Season | Position |
|---|---|
| 2024–25 | 9th (Championship) |
| 2023–24 | 5th (Championship — lost in play‑off semi‑finals) |
| 2022–23 | 9th (Championship) |
| 2021–22 | 10th (Championship) |
| 2020–21 | 19th (Premier League) |
