Manchester City have decided to abandon their pursuit of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, according to reports in Italy.
It is believed that the Citizens were unwilling to match the Senegalese international’s asking price (believed to be €80m or £74m) and the player could now either stay at his current club or move to Paris Saint-Germain instead.
City are now planning moves for other targets with Sevilla’s Jules Kounde and Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez in their sights, and fans on Twitter are happy that the club have turned their attentions away from Koulibaly:
Good news.
— Sunny (@SunnySunny0028) September 22, 2020
nEvEr wAnTeD hIm aNyWaY
— ♣️ (@TheCityClout) September 22, 2020
— KING (@KevaNjoroge) September 22, 2020
Thats good news,lets go all out for Kounde,a younger CB with a lot of years ahead.
— Cityzennn (@thecityzensfc) September 22, 2020
2 weeks to the deadline. We better bring someone in
— Neil (@iamMacjay) September 22, 2020
good from us
— hamza (@h4mzi) September 22, 2020
Why don't we bite the bullet & offer big money needed to sign either Kounde or Upamenco both young for the future & Pep will surely improve them, but we really need to get one of them in next 2 weeks
— mark thomas (@MThomas61) September 22, 2020
Great news
— Love City & Darlo (@MCFCDarlo) September 22, 2020
— Magomed Murtazaliev (@murtazaliev55) September 22, 2020
With reports in Spain and France suggesting that City are now very much focused on signing Kounde from Sevilla, it’s not surprising to hear that the club’s attempts to sign Koulibaly have stalled.
Both Gimenez, who has been linked with Chelsea, and Kounde are much younger than the Napoli defender and they would certainly be better investments for the future. Whether they would bring greater solidity to the defence, though, is another matter.
