Manchester City are close to the breakthrough for Kalidou Koulibaly, reportedly raising their offer for the Napoli defender to €70m plus bonuses.

According to both Sky Sport Italia and Sportitalia, the negotiations are reaching a key moment via intermediary Fali Ramadani.

The previous bid of €65m plus bonuses was rejected, while Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis is prepared to drop slightly below the €80m asking price.

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Manchester City are expected to raise their offer for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly to €75m, including add-ons and bonuses.

This is still below the €80-85m asking price, but certainly closer than the previous bid of €65m.

According to Sky Sport Italia and Sportitalia, the Citizens will increase their proposal to a cash sum plus bonuses to reach €75m.

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Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis said he can’t sell Kalidou Koulibaly to Manchester City if they can’t talk directly to the club.

Koulibaly has been linked with the Premier League side in recent months but the two clubs are seemingly far from reaching an agreement.

“I gave an answer via text message to an important English newspaper,” De Laurentiis said at a press conference.

“I replied that they claim the managers of Manchester City can’t speak directly with us because of the Jorginho problems.

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Patron Aurelio De Larentiis has revealed Napoli are in talks with Arsenal over Sokratis Papastathopoulos and will allow Kalidou Koulibaly and Arek Milik leave the San Paolo ‘with the right conditions’.

The Partenopei lost Lille defender Gabriel to the Gunners and the President said they are working to sign Sokratis.

“We are working on signing Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Arsenal, we consider it an option,” De Laurentiis told reports at Castel di Sangro, according to IlNapoliOnline.com.

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Manchester City are expected to make a new and improved offer to Napoli this week, having agreed to double Kalidou Koulibaly's current salary.

According to Sportitalia and France Football, another proposal is on its way over the next few days.

The asking price is €80, whereas the most recent offer is believed to be €70m plus bonuses.

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Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis confirms ‘Kalidou Koulibaly and Arkadiusz Milik are on the way out, transfer market permitting.’

While Milik is waiting for Edin Dzeko’s fate to decide whether he goes to Roma or Juventus, Manchester City have not yet reached the €80m asking price for Koulibaly.

“Koulibaly and Milik are both on their way out, transfer market permitting,” De Laurentiis told Canale 21.

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According to Spanish newspaper AS, Manchester City have offered €70m for Kalidou Koulibaly, but Napoli are still holding out for more.

It has been suggested in multiple Italian outlets for weeks that Manchester City are the favourites and Koulibaly is on the market for the right price, having rejected over €100m in recent years.

President Aurelio De Laurentiis wants at least €80m cash for the Senegal international centre-back.

AS claim that the latest offer from City is €70m, an increase from the €65m proposed last month.

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Kalidou Koulibaly wanted to sign a new contract with Napoli, according to transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà, but the club wants a sale to Manchester City.

The defender has long been the most valuable players in the Partenopei squad and previous offers of over €100m were rejected from the likes of Manchester United and PSG.

His contract runs to June 2023 and there is no release clause.

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Manchester City could reportedly include defender Eric Garcia to convince Napoli of letting Kalidou Koulibaly leave this summer.

Sky Sport Italia journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claims the Partenopei continue the search for a centre-back after losing out on Lille defender Gabriel.

The report claims versatile Garcia, who can play at right as well, could become available to the Azzurri and included in a possible deal to convince Napoli of selling Koulibaly.

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