Juventus are ready to offer up to €30m for Kalidou Koulibaly, but it remains to be seen if the Napoli star will ‘betray’ the Partenopei.
The Senegal captain sees his current deal expire in June 2023 and has reportedly turned down a contract extension with the Partenopei who have offered him a pay cut. The latest reports in Italy claim that Juventus are ready to put €30m on the table to sign the experienced defender, giving him a €6m-a-year salary.
Koulibaly is one of the idols of Napoli fans and the designated captain at the Stadio Maradona following the departure of Lorenzo Insigne. Nevertheless, his future under Vesuvius is in doubt, as he also admitted in May, while on international duty.
Koulibaly claimed he didn’t know where he’d play next season and the situation hasn’t changed much for the 30-year-old.
Napoli have received no offers so far, but are aware that Juventus met the defender’s agent Fali Ramadani on Wednesday. Sky Sport Italia reports that Koulibaly will return to Naples next week to begin the pre-season and discuss his contract situation with the Partenopei president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
Koulibaly isn’t short of suitors, so Napoli fans hope he will pick a club outside Serie A if he decides to the club in the summer.
They fear that the star defender will follow in Gonzalo Higuain’s footsteps. Juventus paid the Argentinean’s €90m release clause in 2016, signing him from the Partenopei after his goal-scoring record campaign under Maurizio Sarri.
“If they [Dries Mertens and Koulibaly] want to stay [at Napoli], it depends on them, but we can’t break the bank,” De Laurentiis said at the end of May.
“I respect those two players, but one must understand if they are only interested in money or if they want to stay in a dressing room and an environment that has given them satisfaction.”
The big question is: will Koulibaly become the ‘new Higuain’, or will he reject Juventus out of love for Napoli? Time will tell.
As a Juventus fan & of course a Serie A fan, I would love it if he stayed in Italy & signed for Juventus.
He would slot straight in on the left side of central defence alongside Bonucci.
At 31 years old, he would be a great signing, & hit the ground running straight away, no settling in etc.
I like De Ligt & want him to stay, but if he wants out then let him go for the right price.
Come on Juventus, make it happen!
I love how “betray” is in quotations. Of course it’s a betrayal – Juve fans regularly call for the death of Napoli fans and have even racially abused K2 in the past. If he goes and plays for a clownshow like that, it would be spitting in the face of all the fans who have stood by him for the better part of a decade.
Come on, Pino. Italian fans and indeed European fans have racially abused me, not only Juventus fans. Juventus is a great club and I’d be honored to play there one day, but let’s see what happens in the future.
Peace out, amico.
It’s not betrayal to leave Napli when they used to pay their best player ( Insigne ) 4.5m per year ( 2m less than Rabiot )
lmao
Fiorentina fans were mad at Velahovic for leaving when he used to earn 800k per season. LMAO X2
@Brian… very funny indeed, just Dybala’s rumors was enough for every Juve fan call him traitor and the whole thing the ultimate betrayal (even though the club wanted him out) but NOT when it’s about joining Juve!
What’s up with ADL’s obsession with cutting payroll to the point at which he is disrespecting the team’s lynchpins? Did Covid put that big a dent in his film business? Did some of his films just flop? Or has he simply succumbed to greed?
Any other Napoli fans have some insight? I’m frustrated in Los Angeles and would love to know more about what is going on.
Dybala is a traitor,
1.the hatred between Juventus and inter
2.Crocodile’s tear. If he loves the club and fans, why demand a pay he doesn’t deserve?And now would accept a lower than current wage from Inter, WTH, purely a clown.
I think using a such a word like “betray” is not right in modern football. Clubs and players are being more practical and they both go for revenue that is fair to me. The problem is for the fans since we look the permanece of a player in a “romantic” way.
All about the cash and potential to win silverware.
Sorry , traitor for what ? We need to think in bigger terms as Khoulibaly staying in serie a is a win for the league , which is very much needed .
Betrayal? Come on, what stupidity. You can’t expect good players, fan favorites, Captains etc, to happily accept a pay cut when other clubs will pay them even more than their current salaries. There is no betrayal from the player here, if you want to use such drama words then the betrayal is actually coming from the Napoli president. But he has probably realized that he will never win the Scudetto and he sure as sh1t will never win anything in Europe so what’s the point of hefty salaries for any players when you can’t win any trophies at all?
It’s a good deal for both clubs , Juventus will get de light’s replacement and Napoli will sell a 30 y/o player at 30 million , if Napoli asked k2 for shorter salary he will leave , either to Juventus of premier league.