Man City dangle tempting carrot as meeting is set up for €90m superstar

Lautaro Martinez, Kalidou Koulibaly

Manchester City are nudging closer to the capture of Kalidou Koulibaly after it was reported transfer talks are due to be held with Napoli.

Pep Guardiola’s side clearly mean business this summer after losing their Premier League crown to Liverpool. Despite it being early days in the summer window, they have already spent more than £60m. This week alone, the Cityzens have signed Ferran Torres (£20.9m) and Nathan Ake (£41m).

You can see our completed list of all the done deals in the Premier League right here.

A report in Paper Talk on Thursday morning claimed the Blues want four more players this summer. It was claimed, in their hunt for Koulibaly, Lautaro Martinez and Joao Felix they were ready to spend big.

Now the first of those, Koulibaly, appears to be a step closer to sign for City.

Koulibaly has built a reputation as one of the world’s top defenders during his time in Serie A. Inevitably, he has attracted plenty of interest from around Europe.

The likes of Real Madrid, PSG and Liverpool have been linked, hough City are now favourites to sign him.

According to French outlet Foot MercatoCity are desperate to lure the Senegal defender to the Etihad.

 

As such, they are reported to have contacted Napoli to set up a meeting to discuss the deal. It’s claimed they could even submit their first offer for the 29-year-old before then.

Furthermore, the outlet claims City have already spoken with Koulibaly’s agent Fali Ramadani to dangle a tempting carrot. They state City have made it clear they are ‘willing to offer a substantial salary’ to secure his client’s signature.

 

Napoli ready to sell Koulibaly

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has also made it clear his side are willing to discuss the defender’s sale.

Speaking to Sky Italiacited on Goal, he said: “Kalidou is a great person, I would be terribly sad to lose him. But there is a time for everything, even to move apart.

Kalidou Koulibaly

“But the €90m is not on the table and so it takes two to make a deal.”

It remains to be seen whether City will be willing to go quite so high for the former Gent man. But with Napoli, for once, willing to sell, there is room for negotiation.

Koulibaly for his part is said to be ready to try his luck in the Premier League next upon his Napoli exit.

 

READ MORE: Torres reveals calming Guardiola words; outlines other ‘very big’ offers