City Missed Out On The Chance To Sign Koulibaly For Just £1m
Manchester City had the chance to sign Kalidou Koulibaly – the same man who is today set to cost Chelsea a massive £60 million – for a mere £1 million in 2012.
Fresh reports from The Sun claim that Antonio Conte is willing to break the bank in order to sign Napoli center back, Kalidou Koulibaly.
However, four years ago, Manchester City had the chance to sign Kalidou for only £1 million. The Citizens turned down the chance as the then boss, Roberto Mancini, didn’t approve of the defender.
The Sun states that Kalidou wasn’t on Manchester City’s radar as Mancini was looking for a more local player at the time.
Instead, Kalidou was signed by Belgian side K.R.C Genk, who managed to tie him down with a four-year contract.
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In 2014, Napoli signed the Senegalese for £6.5 million and agreed to a five-year deal with the defender.
Chelsea are now looking to sign the 25-year-old, and Antonio Conte seems determined to secure Kalidou’s signature. The Blues are preparing a £60 million bid for the man.
Napoli manager, Maurizio Sarri, recently criticized Koulibaly for his performance during the pre-season, but still maintained that Kalidou is an exceptional defender.
“In (last week’s friendly at Hertha) Berlin, Koulibaly had 20 minutes with his full repertoire of dumb mistakes, but over the rest of pre-season he did well,” said Sarri during a press conference.
The gaffer also went to mention that Kalidou will be going to Africa to represent his nation in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. He revealed that he will have to be extra careful in defense during the latter part of the season as two of his defenders are off.
“He is extraordinary, but still, has moments where he goes missing. The defence is a tricky area for us, especially as in January we’ll lose both Faouzi Ghoulam and Koulibaly for the Africa Cup of Nations.”
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