Kalidou Koulibaly has confirmed Napoli players are 100% behind their coach Gennaro Gattuso: ‘There are no problems with him.’
Reports in Italy had claimed Gattuso and Napoli players had had a dressing room bust-up after their defeat against Milan last weekend.
“It was an important game and it’s a pity we lost it,” Koulibaly said.
“We know what we got wrong, we didn’t have the right mentality, episodes were crucial.
Italian sport papers claim Tiemoue Bakayoko should not have been sent off, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic would deserve ‘at least’ a yellow card for elbowing Kalidou Koulibaly.
Referee Paolo Valeri had a busy evening at the San Paolo and controversies aroused as Tiemoue Bakayoko was sent off while Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s elbow on Kalidou Koulibaly wasn’t sanctioned at all.
Bakayoko was sent off through a double yellow card, but the first one shown to the Chelsea loanee was wrong, according to Tuttosport and La Gazzetta dello Sport.
While English reports suggest Liverpool will try again for Kalidou Koulibaly in January, Italian sources insist Napoli won’t sell for under €70m.
The Mirror claims that Virgil van Dijk’s injury has left the Reds short-staffed at the back, enough to warrant a huge expenditure in the January transfer window.
Their first choice would be Senegal international centre-back Koulibaly, who had already been a target for both Liverpool and Manchester City over the summer.
Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly will not blame the tough fixture list and focused on bouncing back immediately with a win against Rijeka on Thursday.
Manuel Locatelli’s penalty and Maxime Lopez’ solo effort secured a 2-0 win for Sassuolo in Campania and Koulibaly was ‘sorry for the defeat’ in Serie A.
Kalidou Koulibaly thanks Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso for ‘telling the truth to my face’ about his form and has no regrets on the transfer market.
The Partenopei needed this 1-0 victory away to Real Sociedad, as they had lost the Europa League opener 1-0 to AZ Alkmaar.
Cristiano Giuntoli confirms Napoli want to go all the way in the Europa League, are discussing a new Gennaro Gattuso contract and keeping Kalidou Koulibaly was ‘tougher in previous years.’
The Europa League group phase opener with AZ Alkmaar kicks off at 17.55 UK time (16.55 GMT), click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
Napoli have been in quarantine for a week now and while Dries Mertens jokes about spending their time getting ripped, Gennaro Gattuso is working on tactics.
The Partenopei were ordered to self-isolate in a group after positive COVID-19 tests for Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas, but none of the others have so far been diagnosed.
That includes today's swabs, which the club announced have all come back negative.
West Ham United have made an offer for Napoli defender Nikola Maksimovic, claim Sky Sport Italia, with Fulham also interested.
The 28-year-old centre-back is only under contract until June 2021 and has not agreed a new deal.
He has been on the market for several months and a proposal has now arrived from West Ham.
Negotiations are in progress and Napoli want around €15-20m for the Serbia international.
Fulham are also believed to be keeping an eye on Maksimovic after the deal with Sassuolo for Marlon seemingly collapsed.
Manchester City have reportedly informed Napoli they are no longer interested in Kalidou Koulibaly after spending €53m plus Nicolas Otamendi on Ruben Dias.
The Senegal international had been Pep Guardiola’s number one target in defence for several years, but this summer was the closest they came to a deal.
Despite Napoli declaring they were open to a sale, Manchester City never reached the asking price of at least €75-80m.
Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli assures the squad is ‘complete’ and Kalidou Koulibaly is staying. ‘We’re very happy and so is he.’
The Partenopei host Genoa this evening at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT), click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
There were some concerns before kick-off, as there was a thunderstorm over Naples, but the turf does not appear to be waterlogged.
