Burley says Juventus should have the advantage in Kalidou Koulibaly race

ESPN pundit Craig Burley has said that Juventus should have the advantage over Manchester United in the race to sign Kalidou Koulibaly this summer. The Senegal international has been committed to Napoli over the past few years but he has been touted for a fresh challenge in order to achieve the ambition of securing regular silverware.

Speaking on ESPN FC, Burley said that the Red Devils would have the centre-back in a heartbeat, considering their troubles at the back in the past 12 months. However, Burley believes the Senegalese could fancy joining the Serie A champions over United, considering he could be reunited with Maurizio Sarri, who is set to be confirmed as the new Bianconeri boss.

He said: “Well, I think Man United would have him in a heartbeat. But, if he’s looking for a ready-made ship to go onto… They did have a disappointing season in terms of Europe but did win Serie A again. Then they’re not going to have to need too much patchwork to be back amongst the big guys of European football. I’m going to say a hit for Juve. Man United and more others could be disappointed.”

Koulibaly has regularly stated the ambition of winning some trophy with Napoli but that has not been the case over the past few seasons where they have stumbled at the wrong occasion. Moreover, they were far away from competing for the Serie A crown last term when compared to the previous and the lack of progress could eventually tempt him to pursue a bigger challenge.

At the present point of time, United are deemed to have made an official bid worth £80m to pursue Koulibaly but the offer is expected to be rebuffed by the Naples outfit, who are said to demand at least £95m for the defender. The 27-year-old has four years remaining on his contract with the Serie A club.