DBasia.news – Manchester City are reportedly interested in signing Napoli’s central defender, Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegalese player is projected to be Pep Guardiola’s first choice next season.
The position of central defender in the Manchester City team has indeed become a weak point this season. That is because Pep chose not to bring in a new center back after the departure of Vincent Kompany. Pep at the time reasoned that Fernandinho could be a quality coating for the center back position. The reason is indeed plausible because in the last two seasons Fernandinho has been familiar with the position.
Especially at the beginning of this season Manchester City had just purchased a new defensive midfielder, Rodrigo. Rodrigo’s presence has made Pep freely install Fernandinho as a central defender. Unfortunately Pep’s plan did not go well as throughout this season two Manchester City central defenders, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte suffered injuries alternately.
In the end Fernandinho must be Pep’s top choice at the center back position. Noted that the Brazilian player played in 23 matches in the English League this season. Despite playing well enough, continuing to rely on Fernandinho is certainly not a good option for Manchester City. The midfielder who has reached 35 years of age is certainly the main factor.
For this reason Pep has began to move to look for a new center back in the transfer market this summer. Koulibaly was a top priority for Pep to be brought in early next season. City management reportedly had no objections in spending large funds for landing the Napoli defender. Koulibaly’s value is predicted not to remember the quality he has so far.
In the last two seasons the 28-year-old defender has been a mainstay of Napoli and is called one of the best central defenders in Europe at the moment. Apart from the quality of the defender, the number of teams that target him will certainly make his selling value increase. Noted, now there are Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain who are interested in purchasing Koulibaly.
Even Liverpool coach, Juergen Klopp has been communicating with Koulibaly about plans to bring him in. Koulibaly’s future is unlikely to be determined anytime soon as the Italian League will start soon. Napoli certainly do not want rumors of Koulibaly’s move affecting his performance at the end of this season.