Manchester United have had a £80m bid for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly rejected, according to reports in Italy.
The Serie A side’s owner Aurelio De Laurentiis is believed to be holding out for over €100m (£89m) and it remains to be seen whether the Premier League side will up their reported initial offer.
Fans on Twitter are mostly keen to see United sign Koulibaly but some don’t believe that the Senegalese international is worth the price tag:
Should pay whatever it takes to get him
— Ahmed Alawadhi (@another_ahmed) 18 November 2018
effects of an inflated transfer market
— RUD (@RedUtdDevil) 18 November 2018
Napoli bought him £6 in 2014
— Football Goals & Highlights (@GoalShakers) 18 November 2018
Worth every penny, monster of a man
— phillip (@reddevil2889) 18 November 2018
smart move but will cost us another 100 million
— baryilmz (@bar_yilmz) 17 November 2018
Good news
— One Love (@abbausmanUK) 17 November 2018
Just imagine signing @kkoulibaly26 in January and @AlderweireldTob for 25 million in summer.
Koulibaly/Alderweireld .. that partnership next season would be very hard to get by..?? players like lindelof and bailly could learn a lot from them, let jones, smalling, rojo go #mufc
— Bradley (@MUFCBradleyP) 18 November 2018
#MUFC should literally give Napoli a blank cheque in January. Koulibaly has no flaws in his game & would be a huge upgrade. If the board are serious about improving the squad & splashing the cash then Koulibaly is the man. pic.twitter.com/xnghrKDEIV
— Dean Conn (@robin_steal) 18 November 2018
Throw in Jones, Smalling and another 90
— Steve-U (@steveussher11) 18 November 2018
A resounding yes! Only question mark is time to adapt + language barrier(?) In terms of ability, he looks like he’s got it all. BUT… can he handle the red shirt? ?
— Indy Boonan (@IBoonan) 18 November 2018
Manager Jose Mourinho has been very keen to see the club sign another centre-half, and would no doubt welcome the signing of Koulibaly.
However, United were reportedly put off by Leicester City’s inflated price for Harry Maguire when they tried to buy the England international after the World Cup so much will depend on whether they see Napoli’s valuation in the same way.
The Partenopei snapped up Koulibaly for just £6.5m in 2014, but his stock has risen sharply since his arrival in Italy. Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are also reportedly tracking the player.