Koulibaly Offered To FC Barcelona For €20 Million

Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has been offered to FC Barcelona for a reduced fee of €20mn ($21mn) according to reports from Italy.

The Ivory Coast center back has less than 12 months to run on his contract with the Serie A club.

Until recently, he was Xavi Hernandez’s top target to reinforce the backline until Sevilla’s Jules Kounde emerged as the leading candidate.

The France international won’t come cheap and has an €80mn release clause. Simultaneously, though, there are reports that the Andalusians will accept a fee of €60mn for their man.

Napoli had previously quoted the Blaugrana figures of this fee for Koulibaly, despite his contract expiring on June 30, 2022 and him being eight years Kounde’s senior at 31.

According to Italian journalist Giacomo Iacobellis, however, as reported by SPORT on Saturday, Koulibaly could finally provide a much cheaper alternative to Kounde after being offered to Barca for a reduced fee of €20mn.

The proposal has been made by Koulibaly’s agent Fali Ramadani to the Catalans, who have recently secured €207.5mn ($216mn) by selling 10% of their La Liga television rights to American investor group Sixth Street.

The club is trying to secure a further €400mn by selling the remaining 15% of their television rights, and president Joan Laporta told reporters on Friday that €200mn will soon be set aside for transfers.

By paying three times less for Koulibaly to Napoli than they would for Kounde to Sevilla, Barca can free up extra money needed to get other signings over the line such as that of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Leeds United right winger Raphinha.

Baraca bid €40mn for Poland captain Lewandowski which was rejected by the Bavarians, who want something more in the ball park of €50-60mn ($52-62mn) for the goalscorer who, like Koulibaly, has less than 12 months on his contract.

As Chelsea entered the race for Brazil World Cup hopeful Raphinha this week and offered a fee believed to be north of £55mn ($66mn) for him, Barca also improved their previous offer to €60mn ($62.5mn) which is said to have been accepted by his Yorkshire employers Leeds United.

Represented by club legend Deco, Raphinha has prioritized a move to Barcelona above all else.