Italian football expert Aurelio Capaldi has warned the likes of Chelsea about the possible signing of Kalidou Koulibaly.
However, Koulibaly has been outstanding for Napoli over the past few seasons and his performances has attracted all sorts of interest from the games biggest clubs, with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid and even Barcelona all joining Chelsea in the chase for the defenders signature.
But despite rumours Chelsea have made contact with Koulibaly, Capaldi has made it clear he is not the player he once was: “I think that Kouliably needs a new experience and also Napoli would be happy to let him go if they could get a good offer,” Capaldi told the Transfer Window podcast.
“Newcastle has been a whisper but I think that it’s not the same situation, for example, as last year because Koulibaly’s last season was not so good. “He had lots of physical problems, he had injuries, basically he made mistakes and he went unnoticed.
“So I think that Napoli are happy to let him go if they get the right money but it’s hard to identify the right quantity of money now because Koulibaly at the moment is not the player that he used to be. “So that is something which must be discussed.
“Koulibaly is earning around €7million net per season and as you can remember two years ago, market reports were saying that there were clubs ready to buy him for €100m.
“I don’t think that is the case now, not only for Koulibaly’s recent performances, not only for the injuries he’s had to face, but also because the market has changed and the market is still changing. “Everybody is trying to realise the new shape of the market.
“I think Napoli are trying to find the right balance between the value they give to the player and the realistic offer that will come.”
Chelsea do have quality all over the pitch, there is no doubt about that, but if they did manage to secure a transfer deal for one of the best in the game right now, it would be a real statement of intent from the club. Despite being warned that he is not the player he was…HE WOULD STILL BE A GREAT SIGNING!