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Kalidou Koulibaly addresses his future amid Napoli exit talk

Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly has insisted that he does not have any plans of leaving Napoli this summer despite the regular speculation regarding his future.

The 29-year-old joined the Naples outfit from Belgian side Genk in the summer of 2014 and he has since built his reputation as one of the best centre-backs in the world.

Over the past few years, Koulibaly has been touted to pursue a bigger challenge elsewhere and a recent report from The Independent claimed that both Manchester United and Manchester City hold a strong interest in signing him ahead of season.

However, the speculation has been shot down by the French-born defender, who has clarified that he has never spoken to Napoli regarding the prospect of leaving them.

The central defender added that he is 100 per-cent committed to the Serie A side and he is disturbed by the fact that he is constantly being linked to the elite clubs across Europe.

“I never spoke to Napoli about leaving. If we have to find a solution, we will find it, but I have never talked about the transfer market. I also read in the newspapers about my future,” He told.

“But I only want to think about playing, I am 100 per-cent [committed to] Napoli and it bothers me to be linked, every day, to this or that European club.”

Koulibaly has 239 appearances for Napoli over the past six years. The club have been constantly competing for the Champions League spots in recent seasons, but things have been different this term.

The club started the campaign with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, but the legendary Italian manager was sacked in December after a run of seven winless games in the Italian top-flight.

They were eight points adrift of the top four when Ancelotti was axed from the helm and his successor Gennaro Gattuso has been unable to cut the gap since taking charge.

Napoli are pretty much out of contention for a Champions League spot with a 14-point gap with only six games to play, but Gattuso’s position should be safe after guiding the club to Coppa Italia success last month.

Meanwhile, they could yet qualify for the Champions League by winning the competition later next month, but that will remain a difficult challenge for them.

The Naples side are scheduled to face Barcelona in the second leg of the round of 16 on the road. They are currently 1-1 on aggregate, but must find the back of the net at the Camp Nou, where the Blaugrana are unbeaten in 35 Champions League games.

Should they manage to outwit them, they could come up against either Bayern Munich or Chelsea in the quarter-final stage, which will involve a single knock-out game in Lisbon. UEFA have changed the originally made schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com

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