Napoli defender was offered to Barcelona for €40 million – report | OneFootball

Italian journalist Giacomo Iacobellis has made a sensational claim that Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly was offered to Barcelona as a cheaper option than Sevilla defender Jules Kounde.

The journalist said there was a price difference of as much as €20 million between the two, meaning that the Napoli centre-half would have cost somewhere around €40 million to Barcelona.

Koulibaly, 31, has a contract with Napoli until 2023 and now that the renewal talks have been stalled, the Italian team is ready to cash up on him but are only willing to listen to offers in the region of €40 million.

At this very moment, however, Barcelona’s priority remains Jules Kounde as at 23 years of age, he fits perfectly into Xavi’s plans. But with the persisting financial instability, Barcelona are failing to match Sevilla’s asking price of around €60 million.

All this has given Premier League side Chelsea a strong advantage. Since they have already lost Andreas Christensen to Barcelona and Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid, they are searching for perfect replacements and Kounde is said to be topping the list.

At the same time, Inter’s Milan Skriniar Juventus’ Matthijs De Ligt and Manchester City’s Nathan Ake are also on their radar.

Apart from all, Koulibaly’s name is on the list too. It is said that the towering defender is one of the options the Blues are exploring as they ‘keep searching for two centre-backs’.

For Napoli, given their ongoing financial problems, selling Koilibaly is something that they have been forced to do. As they work on reducing their wage bill, club legends such as Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne have already been let go.

Koulibaly’s name could be next on the agenda and since he still has one year left on his contract, Napoli are expecting to churn as much capital as they can, as it is understood that at 31 years of age, he still has a lot left in his tank.