We don’t believe Liverpool are interested in signing Kalidou Koulibaly this summer. We didn’t believe it last week when TuttoMercatoWeb kicked off the story by suggesting the Reds could gazump Tottenham and Manchester United to Napoli’s €100M man and we don’t believe it now that Gazzetta dello Sport are amplifying it.
Last week, it was meant to be a straight purchase—though with Joël Matip likely to be sold both to recoup some funds and make room for Koulibaly. This week, it’s being suggest that Dejan Lovren—who was heavily linked with a move to Milan last summer—could be heading in the other direction of the deal as a make-weight.
Further, now it’s Real Madrid and Arsenal meant to be the other frontrunners for his services along with the Reds. All of which just makes us more certain that this is either the player’s agent or his current club at work trying to drum up a big money deal—perhaps having not noticed there’s a whole global pandemic thing going on.
The reality is that even under other, more normal circumstances, Liverpool wouldn’t be in the market for a €100M centre half who’s set to turn 29 in June—that’s just too much money for a player at the tail end of his prime years for a club like the Reds, who in addition are committed to Joe Gomez’ continuing development.
And of course these aren’t normal circumstances, with football on hold and the form and timing of its return uncertain—and that bringing massive financial uncertainty. Liverpool aren’t after Koulibaly, but we wish Napoli and/or the player’s agent all the luck in getting themselves the big money deal they’re clearly after.