According to Gazetta Dello Sport via Sport Witness, Everton are still showing an interest in Kalidou Koulibaly and could battle Manchester United & Paris Saint-Germain for his signature. Carlo Ancelotti is keen to work with the 28-year-old again after managing him at Napoli, but he won’t come cheap.
Koulibaly has an asking price of €100m (£86.6m) and earns €115k-per-week/€6m-a-year (£100k-per-week) in wages. He’d be a record-signing for Everton, surpassing the £45m spent on Gylfi Sigurdsson in 2017 and could be the Toffees’ fourth-highest earner.
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The Senegalese international is a regular at the Stadio San Paolo but has seen his playing time decimated due to suspension and a series of injuries this season – Koulibaly has played in only 21 of 36 games in all competitions and hasn’t featured for Napoli since their 3-2 defeat to Lecce four weeks ago.
He’d be an improvement on the likes of Michael Keane, Mason Holgate and Yerry Mina, but Everton may not spend £86.6m to bring him to Goodison Park. Koulibaly has three-and-a-half years remaining on his deal at Napoli too, so Aurelio De Laurentiis has no obligation to sell him for less than his asking price.
The 28-year-old joined from KRC Genk in 2014 and has gone on to make 233 appearances across the board, scoring and creating 15 goals. Napoli will make a substantial profit on the £7m they spent six years ago, but his next destination is unknown.
Everton have been in the market for a central defender all season but Koulibaly may be too ambitious, even with Ancelotti in their corner.