Nottingham Forest and Fulham are both looking at Serie A for January reinforcements with the Premier League duo making £7 million bids for Salernitana’s Lassana Coulibaly and Fulham’s Rick Karsdorp, according to Cronoche Salerno and Leggo.
It’s fair to say Coulibaly and Karsdorp have enjoyed rather contrasting seasons.
Mali international Coulibaly, a former Rangers loanee, is one of the first names on the team-sheet for an ambitious Salernitana outfit. Only Roma’s Bryan Cristante averages more tackles per game than the all-action 26-year-old among all of Serie A’s midfielders (WhoScored).
Karsdorp, meanwhile, finds himself out of favour at the Stadio Olimpico. A high-profile fall-out with Jose Mourinho (join the club, Rick) makes a January departure all-but inevitable, with the Dutch international set to miss Roma’s pre-season training camp in Portugal.
Fulham and Nottingham Forest are eyeing Serie A reinforcements
According to Leggo, Fulham have submitted an opening bid of £7 million. Roma are holding out for £9 million, however; the Giallorossi looking to recoup most of the fee they paid to Feyenoord back in 2017.
Nottingham Forest have reportedly put forward an identical amount for Coulibaly. And their offer will be met with a similarly dismissive response; Salernitana are determined to retain the services of a man who has come on leaps and bounds since his forgettable, 19-game spell under Steven Gerrard at Ibrox back in 2018/19.
Interestingly, Salernitana are hoping to sign Coulibaly’s former Rangers team-mate Glen Kamara. The Campania-based outfit, however, view the one-time Arsenal youngster not as a replacement for Coulibaly but as a potential partner in the middle of the park.
Time will tell whether Nottingham Forest are willing to improve their initial offer. Coulibaly is believed to be seen as the ‘ideal reinforcement’ for Steve Cooper’s midfield.
Similar stats to Casemiro
Forest already have Cheikhou Kouyate, Ryan Yates and Remo Freuler at their disposal. And that’s without mentioning Jack Colback and Lewis O’Brien. Coulibaly, however, boasts far greater defensive numbers than any of the aforementioned quintet. His 3.1 tackles per game places him in line with Casemiro, Moises Caicedo and co.
Coulibaly also signed a long-term contract until the summer of 2026 back in July.
“The way (Steven Gerrard) played football is what I aspire to,” Coulibaly once told The Herald. “I want to be like him. He scored a lot of important goals during his career and that came from working hard. I want to work hard so I can try to be like him. It is not going to be easy but I will always give it my best.
“Michael Essien was another of my favourite players. I used to watch him and other big players like (Andres) Iniesta and (Sergio) Busquets. I would watch their movement, what they did off the ball, and try to improve myself as a player.”
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