Man Utd Had 90m (e) World-Record Fee Rejected For Defensive Ace

Man Utd had a bid of €90 million for Kalidou Koulibaly rejected by Napoli in the final week of the English transfer window, a report from Italy claims. Koulibaly has become one of Europe’s premier center-backs during his five-year stint in Naples, with a move to one of the Premier League’s big-hitters touted regularly each window.

Manchester United ended up smashing the world-record fee for a defender when they announced the signing of England international Harry Maguire from Leicester for a reported £80 million, but now news from the Italian media has revealed that the Red Devils were willing to go even higher to secure the services of Koulibaly.

Related: Van-Dijk Warns Maguire Of World-Record Price Pressure

Corriere dello Sport (via Calciomercato.com) claim Man Utd made a bid of ?90m (£82.6m) for the Senegal international, but Napoli had no intentions of letting their star defender go and swiftly rejected the bid.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made clear his intentions to revamp the Utd squad with an influx of younger stars on the rise with a point to prove in the form of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Daniel James (both 21) and Harry Maguire (26).

The successful acquisition of Koulibaly at 28-years-of-age would have provided an experienced hand in the Utd rearguard, though would have presented the Red Devils with fewer prime years than what they will receive from 26-year-old Harry Maguire instead.