There are growing reports in Italy that Manchester City will raise their Kalidou Koulibaly bid to €70m plus bonuses, so Napoli can buy Gabriel from Lille, beating Arsenal.

According to various sources, including Sportitalia transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà, Calciomercato.com, La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport, Manchester City have alerted Napoli that their next proposal will be a winning one.

Manchester City are preparing a new and improved offer for Kalidou Koulibaly, claim Italian reports, as the Napoli asking price drops to €70m plus bonuses.

Multiple sources including Sky Sport Italia stated the original bid of €63m was rejected, with President Aurelio De Laurentiis expecting €80m.

Now Sportitalia transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà maintains Manchester City are getting the paperwork ready for a new and improved proposal over the next few days.

According to Sky Sport Italia, Arsenal will sign Lille defender Gabriel, because Napoli cannot move for him unless Kalidou Koulibaly is sold first.

The Brazilian is available for €28m and Lille President Gerard Lopez confirmed this week he will be leaving, although the destination has not yet been chosen.

That is because Arsenal have matched Napoli’s offer, with the same personal terms too, so the decision is up to the centre-back.

Sky Sport Italia are reporting this evening that Gabriel will accept the Arsenal offer.

Manchester City fully intend to sign Kalidou Koulibaly this summer and will raise their €65m offer to get closer to Napoli’s €80m asking price, claim Sportitalia.

Transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà, who works for both Sportitalia and La Gazzetta dello Sport, is confident City will step up their bid for Koulibaly once the Champions League is over.

Negotiations are continuing behind the scenes and they hope that the pressure can be turned on Napoli the more the summer progresses.

Manchester City have reportedly offered €65m for Kalidou Koulibaly, but Napoli are not prepared to drop their asking price below €80m, stalling Gabriel from Lille.

Multiple Italian reports including La Repubblica claim a deal has already been done with Lille for centre-back Gabriel Magalhanes for €20m.

However, having just purchased Victor Osimhen from the same club for €50m plus bonuses, Orestis Karnezis and three youth team players, Napoli need to sell first.

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis continues to drop hints Kalidou Koulibaly could leave, while insisting Maurizio Sarri was ‘stupid’ to leave for Chelsea and Juventus.

Sky Sport Italia insist Manchester City’s offer for Kalidou Koulibaly won’t go above €65m and the defender simply will not be sold at that price.

Koulibaly’s comments in recent days confirm that he could be on the market for the right fee, which is believed to be €75-80m.

If that kind of proposal does not arrive, then the Senegal international is in absolutely no rush to leave Naples.

According to today’s report from Sky Sport Italia, the bid from Manchester City is only €65m and considered entirely unacceptable.

Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli insists there is no agreement yet for Victor Osimhen, while there are ‘no offers’ for Kalidou Koulibaly. ‘We’re in no rush to make decisions.’

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Kalidou Koulibaly would ‘love to stay at Napoli for life, but I can’t make promises’ and assures Victor Osimhen will relish the ‘fantastic’ fans.

It was reported this morning that the Senegal international is ready to discuss a new contract, as the offers from Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool are at most €60m, whereas the asking price remains €75m.

Kalidou Koulibaly is discussing a contract extension with Napoli, as the offers from Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United aren’t up to scratch.

According to the Corriere dello Sport newspaper, President Aurelio De Laurentiis proved he was ready to listen when approaches arrived from the Premier League.

He even lowered his asking price to €75-80m, from the original in excess of €100m, in the post-COVID transfer era.