Darren Bent and Jermaine Beckford have seemingly questioned why there is such a crave to buy Kalidou Koulibaly, who has been linked with the likes of Liverpool and Pep Guardiola’s side.
Koulibaly was in action for Napoli during their Champions League defeat to Barcelona over the weekend and Bent claimed on TalkSport (09/08/20 at 1:40 pm) that there are fans who have hardly seen him in action yet they believe he can take their club to the ‘next level’, as he pointed out that his performance against the La Liga giants suggested otherwise.
Italian outlet Tuto Napoli claimed last month that Liverpool were prepared to pay £63 million for his services, whilst Foot Mercato have linked the 29-year-old with their Premier League rivals, Manchester City.
Either way, Koulibaly has been a much-talked-about player in the transfer market in recent seasons, but Bent and Beckford believe that fans just jump on the hype train without hardly watching him play and think he’s ‘the new Van Dijk’.
“I am not sure that many people have watched Koulibaly enough this season,” Bent told TalkSport. “I think he has been the only name that has been banded about. Like ‘Koulibaly, Koulibaly’.
Beckford added: “It’s massive money. Naturally, you are going to look at it and say ‘Woah, £90 million. This guy must have something, he must be special and he must be the new Van Dijk’.
Bent then responded: “Exactly. That’s what is killing people. Lewis Dunk for £40 million is not a no-brainer to buy. But people are like ‘I have heard this name Koulibaly, like he’s the one who is going to take us to the next level.
“Whoever watched the game [against Barcelona] would have the complete opposite idea because that was not £90 million pounds worth of defender playing against Barcelona.”
It remains to be seen whether Koulibaly does make a switch to England because his services may well be needed.
Liverpool are searching for another centre-back after the departure of Dejan Lovren [Daily Star], but it has to be questioned whether the newly-crowned English champions would be willing to pay such a big fee in an area of the pitch that is less concerning than others.
But Manchester City, who recently signed Nathan Ake from Bournemouth, could do with his services, but have they already brought in their centre-back signing or will they go again?
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