Man United’s strong interest in defender forces Euro giants to back out of transfer race

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According to the Sun via French publication L’Equipe (via GFFN), Manchester United’s strong interest in Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has seen PSG withdraw from the race to sign the stalwart.

The Sun claim that the centre-back has also attracted the interest of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

It’s added that on a domestic level United will have to contend with heated rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, as well as Newcastle once their takeover by mega-rich Saudis is completed.

Whilst there’s still plenty of competition for the ace’s signature, it’s no doubt a boost that PSG are now out of the race, especially considering their financial power which clubs would find hard to match.

The Sun report that the Senegalese star is contracted until 2023 and that United see the defender as a prime target who they are willing to part with £70m for.

There’s some conflicting reports on the 28-year-old’s value as Calciomercato reported earlier that Napoli aren’t going to budge from their €100m valuation of the world-class star.

Koulibaly has been one of the world’s best defenders over the past couple of years.

The Sun add that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be in the market for centre-back reinforcements this summer with the likes of Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof and Phil Jones set to be offloaded.

Man United spent the big bucks to recruit Harry Maguire last summer and the side need a reliable option to partner the now Red Devils captain.

Lindelof’s form with United has been inconsistent for his entire spell, Eric Bailly has performed well but can’t be seen as a consistent option after being plagued by injuries and Jones is too error-prone.

Koulibaly has been one of the best defenders in the world over the last couple of years but injuries have limited the ace to 21 appearances across all competitions this season.

It will be interesting to see if any of the aforementioned top clubs come very close to Napoli’s price tag for the star, considering the star’s injury troubles and that he turns 29 later this month.

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