La Gazzetta dello Sport claims Manchester City are prepared to raise their Kalidou Koulibaly offer to €70m plus bonuses, which Napoli would accept.
The negotiations have been slower than expected because of the frosty rapport between the two clubs, going back to the failed Jorginho transfer a couple of years ago.
They are communicating entirely via intermediaries such as Fali Ramadani to work out the terms.
Napoli dropped the original €90m asking price and Manchester City are raising theirs from €65m plus bonuses.
La Gazzetta dello Sport claims Manchester City are prepared to raise their Kalidou Koulibaly offer to €70m plus bonuses, which Napoli would accept.
The negotiations have been slower than expected because of the frosty rapport between the two clubs, going back to the failed Jorginho transfer a couple of years ago.
They are communicating entirely via intermediaries such as Fali Ramadani to work out the terms.
Napoli dropped the original €90m asking price and Manchester City are raising theirs from €65m plus bonuses.
The Gazzetta report claims a deal could be done by the weekend for €70m plus up to €5m in add-ons.
Paris Saint-Germain also tried to intervene, but the €60m proposal was far too low.
Koulibaly has already agreed personal terms with the Premier League side, a contract worth €9m plus €3m in bonuses per season.
That is practically double what he currently earns at the Stadio San Paolo, after Napoli refused to increase his salary, opting instead to monetise on the 29-year-old.
Napoli’s main candidate to replace him is Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who would reunite with Greek international teammate Kostas Manolas.
He could even be allowed to leave Arsenal as a free agent or for a minimal fee.