Man City make painful Koulibaly gaffe in announcing Ruben Dias deal

Manchester City have appeared to suggest that Kalidou Koulibaly could yet sign for the club after formally announcing Ruben Dias.

Benfica on Sunday night confirmed they had reached an agreement to sell Dias to City for €68million, with Nicolas Otamendi heading in the opposite direction for €15million.

That deal was formally announced on Tuesday evening, with Dias, putting pen to paper on a six-year deal.

The Portugal defender certainly appeared happy to make the move and you can read what he had to say, here.

The arrival of Dias is timely given City are coming in off the back of an agonising 5-2 home defeat to Leicester. It’s the first time any side managed by Pep Guardiola had leaked five goals on their home patch.

However, despite also signing Nathan Ake in a £41m deal, City’s defensive recruitment might not be finished yet.

That’s after the story to announce Dias’ signing on City’s website also appeared to let slip that Koulibaly could soon be following.

The story – confirming that Dias would wear the No 3 shirt for the season – included a link at the bottom, urging City fans to ask ‘new signing’ Koulibaly a question.

That was quickly deleted once the blunder had been spotted, but not before a screengrab had been shared on social media.

It’s also been suggested that perhaps Dias was, in fact, City’s second choice behind Koulibaly.

Reckon Man City’s new signing was their second choice? 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZrQ0lkEdhf

— Ste Hoare (@stehoare) September 29, 2020

Either way, the whole episode made for an embarrassing blunder by the club.

It certainly wouldn’t be entirely surprising were City to also announce a deal for the Napoli star.

The powerful Senegalese star is regarded as one of the game’s top defenders.

However, Napoli appear ready to part with the player this summer, having placed a £70m asking price on his head.

That has proved prohibitive for City so far. Last week it was claimed a deadline had been imposed on the deal.

Negotiations have not been easy because the two clubs are refusing to communicate directly. City are still bitter about Napoli pulling out of their deal to sell Jorginho prior to his move to Chelsea.

Gattuso happy to keep Koulibaly

Napoli are not under immediate pressure to sell Koulibaly, who is under contract for another three years. Therefore, if no acceptable offer arrives, he could stay at the Stadio San Paolo.

Indeed, coach Gennaro Gattuso confirmed that Napoli could keep the Senegal international.

He said: “Koulibaly has a precise asking price. If the club doesn’t get the money it is asking for, then he won’t leave.”

READ MORE: Arsenal star’s Napoli move in limbo amid Koulibaly confusion