• Interest is high in the Napoli defender and he has been linked with a move to a top European club
• Koulibaly has made a name for himself since moving to the south of Italy
Manchester United will have to smash their transfer record and pay £130million to bring Kalidou Koulibaly to Old Trafford.
Interest is high in the Napoli defender and he has been heavily linked with a move to a top European club in recent months.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea are in the race for the 27-year-old, according to reports in Italy, but United are believed to view him as a top priority.
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis is not prepared to let him leave on the cheap, however, and is demanding a world-record fee for a defender, claim Gazzetta dello Sport.
Koulibaly has made a name for himself since moving to the south of Italy from Belgian side Genk in 2014.
The Senegal international has made 192 appearances in five years, scoring eight goals.
English fans will get a glimpse of him up close when Napoli take on Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Europa League next month.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is targeting a return to club management during the close season in June and has an idea about the type of club he wants to take charge of, the Portuguese has said.
Mourinho has been out of a job since he was sacked by United in December following a dismal run of results that left the club sixth in the Premier League standings, 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
“What I have in mind is that I would like to be back in the summer, in June, for a new club, for a new pre-season,” Mourinho told BeIN Sports.
“I know exactly what I don’t want. That’s the reason why I had to say (no) already to three or four different offers. And I know what I want, in terms of not a specific club but the nature of the job, the dimension of the job.”
Mourinho had said in January that he was not sure if he would manage another club in England after stints with Chelsea and United. The 56-year-old, however, ruled out taking the reins of a national team as he prefers the day-to-day work that comes with being a club manager.
“I don’t think so,” Mourinho said, when asked if he would take charge of a national team. “I think a national team job is a very specific job. “I like daily football, I like daily work, I like many competitions, I like matches and I want to stay in football club level. But who knows?”