Manchester City step up pursuit of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly

Manchester City are preparing a second bid for the Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. Their first bid of around €60m including add-ons was €15m short of Napoli’s valuation, but the Premier League club hope they can find a compromise with an improved offer in the next few days.

The relationship between the two clubs is not good following the events of the summer of 2018, when City were convinced that the midfielder Jorginho would join them only for him to follow Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea.

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But Koulibaly’s agent, Fali Ramadani, is working behind the scenes to improve the situation between the two clubs and there is a growing confidence at City that a deal can be struck.

Koulibaly would be City’s third major summer signing after the arrivals of Nathan Aké for £41m from Bournemouth and the winger Ferran Torres from Valencia for £24.5m.

City kick off their Premier League season against Wolves on 21 September, nine days after the opening fixtures, having played in the Champions League quarter-finals against Lyon on 15 August.