Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards believes Chelsea transfer target Kalidou Koulibaly is a similar type of player to former City centre-back Eliaquim Mangala.
Richards made the admission after watching the Napoli defender struggle to deal with Barcelona sensation Lionel Messi during Saturday evening's Uefa Champions League clash at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona ran out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Clement Lenglet, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to book their spot in the last-eight of this season's competition.
Koulibaly, alongside central defensive partner Kostas Manolas, could not get anywhere near Messi as he scored a stunning individual goal shortly after the midway point of the first half.
Whilst credit should be given to Messi for producing yet another piece individual magic, questions must be asked about Koulibaly's defending, with the Argentine star being able to score when it looked almost impossible.
And his defensive showing attracted criticism from former City and England star Richards, who questioned his performance, whilst comparing him to Mangala, who experienced a forgettable five years at the Etihad Stadium.
Richards told CBS Sports: “I think his price-tag is £20 milllion ($26.6m) less.
"Everyone talks about how he is supposed to be composed on the ball, he's aggressive but I see similarities to Mangala - and he went to City and it didn't really work out for him there so I'm not totally convinced after that performance."
Chelsea are not the only club to have recently expressed an interest in landing Koulibaly this summer, as Manchester City have also expressed a desire to land the Senegal international.
However, Napoli sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli, at the end of July, confirmed that the Italian side had yet to receive a formal offer for him.
“At this moment, we haven’t received any offers,” the director told DAZN, via Goal.
“Koulibaly had important offers in the past and a great deal of interest, but we are in no rush to make decisions.
“We consider our players important and will discuss the situation with them.”
