Giuntoli: ‘Koulibaly staying at Napoli’

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.

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.

“We believe the game can go ahead, thanks also to the staff who worked on the pitch at the Stadio San Paolo,” the director told Sky Sport Italia.

Gennaro Gattuso unveils the new 4-2-3-1 formation with Victor Osimhen supported by Dries Mertens, Hirving Lozano and Lorenzo Insigne.

“This system was also used for half-an-hour last week, so we will vary between 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 depending on the situation and the opposition.

“We evaluate, choose and sign players all together. We needed a striker who could hold up the ball, Arkadiusz Milik didn’t want to stay, so we sought a different approach with Osimhen and Andrea Petagna.

“The transfer market is open for another week, we are confident that we can get a deal done that will suit both us and Milik.”

There is another Napoli player whose future is in doubt, as PSG and Manchester City push to the end for Koulibaly.

“The team was completed in January with Stanislav Lobotka and Diego Demme, who can play in a few different roles. With Amir Rrahmani, Osimhen and Petagna, we are complete, so will now try to release players who won’t have much time on the pitch.

“I think Koulibaly is staying, we are very happy and so is he. I believe that he is staying,” concluded Giuntoli.