Napoli can't sell Koulibaly to Man City because Guardiola's side still hold Jorginho grudge

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed his club cannot even consider selling Kalidou Koulibaly to Manchester City at the moment, due to the Premier League side refusing to even open talks.

City have been linked with Koulibaly for several months, with Pep Guardiola looking to overhaul his defensive line and fight for the Premier League and European title once more.

And now, Napoli president De Laurentiis has confirmed the club will allow Koulibaly to depart this summer, but talks with City do not seem possible due to how they are acting.

'How can we have a normal and calm negotiation with Manchester City to sell Koulibaly?' The Napoli president told Canale 21.

'They won’t talk directly with us because of the Jorginho deal two years ago.'

In the summer of 2018 City were on the brink of wrapping up the signing of midfielder Jorginho, only for Napoli to pull a complete U-turn and sell the Italian to City's rivals Chelsea.

Jorginho linked up with Maurizio Sarri, who had just left Naples to take charge at Stamford Bridge. City's billionaire hierarchy were left furious as a result.

De Laurentiis has been transparent with Napoli's summer plans, admitting the defender will be moved on if the transfer market permits it, along with other first team stars.

'Koulibaly and [Arkadiusz] Milik are both on their way out, transfer market permitting.

'So, if the transfer market allows us to sell these two excellent players, we will know how to replace them. If not, then we’ll discuss it again next year.

He added: 'Kalidou is a great person, I would be terribly sad to lose him. But there is a time for everything, even to move apart.'

Napoli would likely hold out for a huge fee for Koulibaly, with the player valued around the £80million mark despite being set to turn 30 next June.

Should City somehow find a way to do a deal, the Senegal star would be paired alongside Aymeric Laporte at the heart of defence.

City have already made the £40m acquisition of defender Nathan Ake from Bournemouth this summer, while highly rated youngster Eric Garcia looks poised to return to Barcelona.