Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Simon Bajkowski

Kalidou Koulibaly sends reminder as Man City pursuit of Napoli defender continues

Kalidou Koulibaly has given a reminder of what he offers on the pitch as Manchester City's pursuit of the Napoli defender continues.

Pep Guardiola has wanted a premium centre-back for more than 12 months and Koulibaly had been identified as the key target ahead of the summer transfer window for the Blues.

However, with both buying and selling club notoriously determined to get their own way in the market negotiations have been slow; City are happy to wait to see if Napoli lower their asking price while the Serie A club expect movement from Manchester before the start of their Premier League season.

In the meantime, Koulibaly is training with his current club ahead of the new campaign as Napoli kick off their league campaign at Parma on Sunday.

The 29-year-old posted some stats to his Instagram account that show exactly why he has caught the attention of City and other leading European clubs in the last few years.

They show that since the beginning of the 2014 season, no defender in Italy has made more tackles, successful passes or successful passes in the opposition half than Koulibaly and only one has won more games than him.

While the defender's age does not fit with the usual profile of City signings in the way that summer arrivals Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres do, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak explained that the club need to be pragmatic enough when an opportunity comes up that the squad needs and the manager wants.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.