Manchester United are negotiating with Napoli over the availability of star defender Kalidou Kouliably, according to reports.
The Senegalese international is one of the most highly-rated central defenders in world football and has been constantly linked with United over the past few seasons.
Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side are in need of defensive reinforcements this summer with the futures of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in serious doubt.
And Italian news outlet Tuttosport is revealing that United are in ‘constant contact’ with Napoli about signing Koulibaly this year.
The report says that Napoli are expected to cash in on some of their key players this year in a bid to raise funds for next season.
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentis wants to raise £113million from the sales of both Koulibaly and Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik.
While Manchester United stumped up £85million for England defender Harry Maguire last summer, the possibility to bring Kouliably in to partner the former Leicester City man at Old Trafford would be too good to turn down.
But United are not the only team sniffing around Koulibaly’s signature, with bitter rivals Manchester City and Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain also keen on adding the 28-year-old to their ranks.
Kouliably joined Napoli ahead of the 2014/15 Serie A season in a £6.5million from Belgian side Genk. He has gone on to make 233 appearances for I Partenopei in all competitions.
However, despite a long-term commitment and loyalty to the southern Italian club, the only trophy Kouliably has managed to bring to Stadio San Paolo is the Italian Super Cup in 2014.
And while the 28-year-old has helped Napoli challenge for domestic honours since his arrival – the club have finished no lower than third in Serie A over the past four seasons, Napoli’s struggles in 2019/20 means Kouliably is much more likely to challenge for major trophies at either PSG or the two Manchester clubs.
Despite a small resurgence under Ancelotti’s successor Gennaro Gattuso, Napoli lie in sixth-place in Italy’s top-flight and a staggering 24 points behind leaders Juventus.
Meanwhile, the staging of the 2020 summer transfer window is, however, under serious confusion as European football remains suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.