Manchester United will have to smash their transfer record and pay a world record fee for a defender, after Napoli put a €150 million price tag on Senegal international centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.
Interest is high in the Napoli defender and he has been heavily linked with a move to a top European club in recent months.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea are in the race for the 27-year-old, according to reports in Italy, but United are believed to view him as a top priority.
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis is not prepared to let him leave on the cheap, however, and is demanding a world-record fee for a defender, claim Gazzetta dello Sport.
Koulibaly has made a name for himself since moving to the south of Italy from Belgian side Genk in 2014.
Napoli are under no pressure to sell Koulibaly because they are expected to sell Brazil international midfielder Allan to PSG for €75m this summer.
Because of this, Napoli would be far less likely to part with Koulibaly, even if clubs are ready to break the bank for the defender.
According to Il Mattino newspaper Bayern Munich are offering €110m, while reports out of England suggest it will take a blockbuster offer of over €150m for de Laurentiis to sell Koulibaly. And that price might be too rich even for a club as big as Manchester United.
