Barcelona hoping to sign Serie A defensive ‘leader’ next year on a free transfer

Amid speculations over Jules Kounde, Barcelona’s pursuit of Kalidou Koulibaly has died down in recent days as the club continue to prioritise a move for the Sevilla centre-back this summer.

During an interview with WetFreunde, Italian transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio has revealed key information for the future of Kouliably, suggesting the defender might end up remaining at Napoli this summer.

Di Marzio claims Barcelona are among the clubs interested in the services of Koulibaly. Despite all the focus around Kounde, he remains one of the club’s top defensive targets as Xavi looks to bring in another quality centre-back after Andreas Christensen.

But Barça are not in a position to afford the Senegalese international, as Napoli are holding out for a hefty price tag. Koulibaly has emerged as a target for other clubs as well including Juventus and Chelsea, which further complicates the issue for Barcelona.

Chelsea rate Koulibaly highly due to his leadership at the back coupled with his experience at the highest level of football. But Di Marzia suggests signing the star defender could prove to be difficult, primarily due to Napoli president Aurelio Di Laurentiis.

Di Laurentiis is infamous for his aggressive brand of negotiations and it could take interested parties weeks before they can get the deal over the line. With that in mind, it will not be surprising to see the defender remaining in Naples in the summer.

Barcelona, though, are still expected to retain their plans to sign Koulibaly. The Catalans are harbouring the hopes of signing the Senegalese international next year when his contract at Napoli comes to an end, thereby making him a free agent.

However, Napoli will be wary of losing Koulibaly on a free transfer window. As such, they could either ship him away from Naples in the summer or offer him a lucrative new deal.