Xavi doesn’t throw in the towel for Koulibaly

The Napoli center-back continues to be the absolute priority of the technicians to reinforce the central axis. The problem is that the Italian club is asking for 40 million euros.

situation

FC Barcelona has once again contacted Kalidou Koulibaly’s agent, Fali Ramadini, to ask him for a little more patience and not to move yet with the Italian club about the renewal offer he has on table. And it is that the Blaugrana club maintains its interest in the Napoli center-back intact, whose contract ends in 2023, and who has Xavi Hernandez as his greatest supporter.For some time now, Barcelona has been monitoring the steps of the Senegalese international, who is considered the ideal central defender to reinforce Xavi’s project, both for his forcefulness and for his ability to get the ball under control. In addition, other virtues of the defender are highly valued, such as his speed, ability to anticipate and power in the air. For many club technicians, he would be the perfect replacement for Gerard Pique, who in the best of cases has one more season left.

The details

Many in Barcelona rub their hands thinking about the defensive tandem formed by Araujo and Koulibaly in the central axis for the next five years, also having Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen as alternatives, thus fulfilling the coach’s mandate with two players of quality in every position. The victims would be the French Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet. The problem in Koulibaly’s exit operation is that Napoli are not going to give him away, far from it, even if he only has one year left on his contract. The first contacts between both clubs have not been very positive: the Italian club remains intransigent in the 40 million euros , without accepting any player as a barter or to make the operation cheaper. With the player, yes, everything is quite advanced, with the promise of a contract until 2026, ending when he turns 34.