Napoli rejected an offer of £95 million from Manchester United for defender Kalidou Koulibaly, according to club chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis.
Koulibaly has established himself as one of Europe’s top defenders, having helped Napoli to back-to-back top-three finishes in Serie A.
The 27-year-old’s exploits have attracted the attention of several clubs around Europe, most notably Manchester United.
Speaking to the media at an event held by Corriere del Mezzogiorno, De Laurentiis confirmed that his club had rejected a huge bid for the Senegal international.
“[Jose] Mourinho wanted him, we rejected £95 million,” De Laurentiis said. “But now it’s impossibile that he leaves Napoli.”
Mourinho was unable to sign the defender he wanted at United, one of the many reasons United failed to perform during his reign.
The Portuguese was sacked on Tuesday , two-and-a-half years after taking over at Old Trafford.
One figure who did make the jump from Napoli to the Premier League is Maurizio Sarri, who left Italy to take over at Chelsea prior to this season.
Sarri was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, and De Laurentiis was quick to talk about how much more involved Ancelotti is with the team’s sporting project than Sarri was.
“With Carlo you can sit and talk about football, he is a serene man with a thousand interests.
“One time I said to Sarri: ‘Which players should we buy?’ And he answered: ‘I don’t care’.”
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