Kalidou Koulibaly, Napoli Agree on New Contract: Latest Details and Reaction
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Napoli and star defender Kalidou Koulibaly agreed on a contract extension on Monday, following a summer filled with transfer speculation.
As reported by ESPN FC, it was Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis who announced the news himself via Twitter, as he wrote: "I am pleased to announce that Kalidou Koulibaly has renewed his contract with Napoli until the end of 2021."
The Senegal international's new release clause was not disclosed, as an official club announcement is still to come. As reported by the Evening Standard's Pietro Lazzerini, the 25-year-old was heavily linked with Chelsea during the summer.
Francesco Pecoraro/Getty ImagesThe player's agent, Bruno Satin, told Radio CRC (h/t the MailOnline's Simon Jones) his client was determined to leave the club in July, but Napoli, who eventually lost striker Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus, had no intention of letting him walk unless another team triggered his release clause.
Per Sky Sports' Kaveh Solhekol, the defender and the Partenopei soon reached an impasse:
A new contract―and a substantial raise, in all likelihood―became an option once the transfer window closed. Napoli signed highly touted defender Nikola Maksimovic on loan with an obligation to buy from Torino, which gave the Blues some final hope a move could be made, but the Premier League giants instead opted to go for Paris Saint-Germain's David Luiz.
Koulibaly is Serie A's best defender not based in Turin, and tying him down to a new, long-term deal was one of Napoli's top priorities for the first half of the new season. With that distraction now out of the way, the Partenopei can focus on breaking Juventus' stranglehold on Italy's top division.
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