Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho wants to sign Kalidou Koulibaly by next summer — at the latest.
The Napoli defender is high up on Mourinho’s list of transfer targets, with the Portuguese keen to strengthen in January.
United will try for the Senegalese centre-half when the transfer window reopens in the new year. If a deal cannot be struck then, he will wait until the end of the season then have another go at signing him.
Koulibaly is keen on a move to the Premier League, and has also been linked with Chelsea and Liverpool.
However, United have moved into pole position to land him as Mourinho looks to shore up a backline which conceded 21 goals in the first 12 Premier League of the season.
The 27-year-old France-born Senegal star is reportedly valued at around £89million by Napoli.
He started his career with hometown club SR Saint-Die before joining Metz, where he made a name for himself and earned a move to Belgian side Genk.
In 2014, Napoli paid around £7m to sign him and since then he has become one of the most accomplished defenders in Serie A.
Now United are ready to move for Koulibaly, who made 11 appearances for France Under-20s side before becoming a full senior international with Senegal in 2015 despite reported interest from Les Bleus' senior boss Didier Deschamps.
Earlier this month, Mourinho said: “I am clearly rebuilding. In my first season, I got into a situation where there were players like Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick – phenomenal players and some of the most important players in the past years of the club – coming to the end.
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“We had to get a player like Ibra [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] to help us to have a certain power to fight for something important, which was clearly to get back to the Champions League level. But it’s been hard work, really hard work, with people like Luke Shaw and Tony Martial, for example. Because for talented players like them to get to the level they are now is a process.
“To transform talent in professional players into stability and performance is a process of hard work. So is it rebuilding? Yes.”
as_win10
187
He is currently one of the best It will be great if United sign him, but I don't think Napoli will sell him.
Nesaiknruy_Legend
143
Van Dijk is way better than Koulibaly... I don't doubt the fact that he is good.... but he is not the best.... he is playing for Napoli so?
Winning medals is the worst way to judge players cos there are bench warmers at Madrid with more medals than Van Dijk so would they be better than Van Dijk? Koulibaly >/= Van Dijk > Alderwierald for top 3 defenders worldwide....
Nesaiknruy_Legend
76
Van Dijk is way better than Koulibaly... I don't doubt the fact that he is good.... but he is not the best.... he is playing for Napoli so?
Napoli isn't rated along with other teams like Pool, Madrid etc. As good as they become they will never be huge headline grabbers unless they literally win the champions league. Look at Roma, semi finalists last year now no one even mentions them. Also Napoli play against a team that's dominated the league back to back that has the best players in the league in nearly every position so it's near impossible to win anything in a situation like that when only half your team has world beaters and the other half average to half decent....
Nesaiknruy_Legend
50
what makes him the best defender in the world.... how many medal does he have... you guys should stop over hyping players.... he is good but definitely not the best
Defenders aren't defined by medals. Especially if your talking about someone that plays for Napoli over someone playing for Real Madrid. Koulibaly is clearly the best defender in the world. Ramos is awful recently, Eiber demolished him and that Real back line. Van Dijk is good, possibly on par with Koulibaly but right now the person that carries his defensive line the most in any team is Koulibaly...