Serie A News: Koulibaly Bothered By Transfer Rumors, Prefers To Stay With Napoli

Kalidou Koulibaly of S.S.C. Napoli would prefer to stay with The Parthenopeans and end his career at Stadio San Paolo if he had his way, but his future may not be under his control.

Multiple teams are interested in taking in Koulibaly. At the top of the list are Manchester City and Manchester United, clubs in need of a center-back. However, they are not the only ones pursuing the 29-year-old Senegal football player. Liverpool, Barcelona and Paris-Saint Germain have also been said to be interested, though that may have changed due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Koulibaly has made it known that he would rather stay with Napoli if he were given a choice. The 29-year-old defender, who has struggled this season, admitted that the transfer rumors have been bothering him, Gazetta Dello Sport reported. He also clarified that he never discussed leaving with Napoli.

"I also read in the newspapers about my future. But I only want to think about playing, I am 100% [committed to] Napoli and it bothers me to be linked, every day, to this or that European club," Koulibaly said.

But the only problem there is that Koulibaly's future may not be in his hands. Most clubs are trying to find ways to deal with the financial stress caused by the coronavirus. Part of that includes having to sell players for some financial flexibility.

"We will see what the president (Aurelio De Laurentiis) will decide and if he proposes to extend my contract, that would allow me to end my career here," Koulibaly quipped.

Koulibaly established himself as one of the world's best center-backs since arriving in 2014 from Genk. He has made 239 appearances with the club since then.

Napoli is asking $127 million from clubs interested in Koulibaly, and it seems they have no plans of relaxing that fee. United has reportedly given up on the chase, aware that this amount may be too much during this crisis.

Barcelona is another team in pursuit. However, they need to find a way to pitch an acceptable offer to Napoli. This may include adding some players to lower the hefty transfer fee of The Blues.