There
is a 90 per cent chance Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly will not move to
Chelsea, according to Sky in Italy.
Our Sky colleagues in Italy tell us the defender has not yet signed a new
contract but Napoli do want to keep him, and looks likely he will stay with
last season's Serie A runners-up.
However, if Napoli can sign Torino's Nikola Maksimovic, they may consider
selling Koulibaly.
The Torino director of sport Gianluca Petrachi has confirmed Napoli are
interested in their centre back but also said another English club is
interested as well.
When asked directly if that English club was Chelsea, Petrachi would not
confirm or deny.
According to Sky Italy, Chelsea made a £38m bid for the Napoli centre back
in July and it is believed the 25-year-old Senegal international is wanted
by new Blues boss Antonio Conte to strengthen his defensive options.
Koulibaly's agent Bruno Satin had confirmed earlier in the same week that
Chelsea were trying to sign his client, and at the time was refusing to sign
a new deal with the Serie A club.
The Senegal international started for Napoli in their 2-2 draw away at
Pescara on Sunday.
Koulibaly has made 61 appearances at Napoli and has played 19 times in
Europe, scoring once. He has six caps for Senegal having represented France
at U20 level.
top