Report: Napoli Puts €100M Price Tag on In-Demand Kalidou Koulibaly
Napoli have valued defender Kalidou Koulibaly at €100m (£88m) in an effort to fend off interest from three Premier League heavyweights, as well as Barcelona.
Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have all been linked with the Senegalese center back, who enjoyed an outstanding season with Napoli as the Neapolitans pushed Juventus all the way in the Serie A title race.
The Mirror reports that any club interested in signing Koulibaly would have to set a new transfer record for a defender, surpassing the £75m that Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk in January. Barcelona have already been priced out of a move by Napoli's demands.
Any transfer fee in this region would represent a huge profit on the €7.75m Napoli paid Genk to sign Koulibaly in 2014. In four years in Naples he has become one of the best defenders in Serie A and this was his best season to date.
Koulibaly had a mixed end to the season. He scored a famous last minute winner at Juventus to reignite Napoli's title challenge, but was sent off after just six minutes at Fiorentina the following week as Napoli lost 3-0.
Nonetheless, Napoli have already set their highest ever points tally of 88 with one game remaining and their defensive record is their best in a 38-game Serie A season, thanks in no small part to Koulibaly.
Koulibaly was born in France and played for them at youth level but chose to represent the country of his parents' birth, Senegal, for which he has 18 caps.
He will be a key player for them at this summer's World Cup, where they face Colombia, Poland and Japan in Group H.
