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Liverpool’s search for a center-back has seen them linked to Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. But it looks increasingly unlikely that the Senegalese will leave Naples this month.
According to Daily Star, Napoli have slapped a mammoth price tag on Koulibaly amid speculations about the Senegalese’s future. The Serie A side will not consider any bids lower than £100m for their prized asset, which will be a big blow to Liverpool.
Koulibaly joined Napoli from Genk in 2014 and has since established himself as one of the best defenders in world football. He has been a target of quite a few top clubs around Europe around the years, including Liverpool and Manchester United.
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However, Napoli have held firm in their valuation of the Senegalese so far. With the Reds currently enduring the worst injury crisis of the Jurgen Klopp era, a move for Koulibaly was believed to be on the cards. But that looks unlikely now.
talkSPORT’s Jim White recently spoke about Koulibaly’s future and what he revealed will not please Liverpool fans.
“There isn’t a window in the last two, three or four that we don’t see big mentions of the Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. This morning, I spoke to Aurelio De Laurentiis, the Napoli owner, and said what about your player, are there bids in for him? He laughed it off saying he’s not for sale. It seems on this occasion Koulibaly is going nowhere. He stays and that was as recent as this morning. Anyone going in with anything other than £100million for Koulibaly can forget it,” said White.
Liverpool unlikely to spend money in January
Jurgen Klopp recently hinted that Liverpool might not spend in the January transfer window, even though injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have effectively crippled his backline.
With the center-back duo unlikely to play again this season, it was suggested that Liverpool might sign a defender this month. However, the German manager said that the Reds are reluctant to invest in short-term solutions.
“I cannot say definitely we won't bring any in. But it's just not likely because of the situation in the world,” said Klopp.
“We maybe could do something, but it would be a short term solution and we don't want that as it doesn't help really, so we have to deal with the situation as we have so far and we have to get through this,” Klopp stated.
