Man Utd will reportedly suffer a blow in their pursuit of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly as he is being tipped to sign a contract renewal with the Italian giants.
The 27-year-old has firmly established himself as one of the top centre-halves in Europe with his consistency and commanding displays in the heart of the Napoli backline.
SEE MORE: Rio Ferdinand’s priceless reaction to Solskjaer’s permanent appointment at Man Utd
In turn, it’s no surprise that he is attracting interest from elsewhere, with the Manchester Evening News suggesting that Man Utd could be willing to break the world transfer record for a defender by spending over £75m to sign him or an alternative target.
It would appear as though they will now have to look elsewhere, as Goal Italy claim that Koulibaly is set to sign a contract renewal which will keep him in Naples until 2024, and importantly, will double his current wages.
It’s added that he could also land the captain’s armband this summer, and so Napoli are seemingly doing their best to keep him at the San Paolo for the foreseeable future.
Nevertheless, it may not just be down to financial reasons, as they’ll surely have to match his ambition on the pitch too by showing that they can topple Juventus for the Serie A title and compete in Europe.
Until they are able to do that, they will arguably still face speculation over their defensive rock, although signing a contract renewal is surely a major signal to any interested party that he has no intention of leaving Italy either.
With that in mind, Man Utd will arguably have to consider alternative options, with the announcement arriving on Thursday morning that Solskjaer is now boss on a permanent basis and so will undoubtedly be at the forefront of their search for reinforcements this summer.
