Koulibaly is selling himself!

KALIDOU Koulibaly has given a reminder of what he offers on the pitch as City’s pursuit of the Napoli defender continues.

Pep Guardiola has wanted a premium centre-back for more than 12 months and the Senegal international has been identified as the club’s key target ahead of the summer transfer window.

However, with both buying and selling club notoriously determined to get their own way in the market, negotiations have been slow. City are happy to wait to see if Napoli lower their asking price, while the Serie A club are hoping for movement from Manchester with their Premier League season starting on Monday.

In the meantime, Koulibaly is in training ahead of the new campaign as Napoli kick off their league campaign at Parma on Sunday.

The 29-year-old posted some stats to his Instagram account that show exactly why he has caught the attention of City and other leading European clubs in the last few years.

They show that since the beginning of the 2014 season, no defender in Italy has made more tackles, successful passes or successful passes in the opposition half than Koulibaly and only one has won more games.

While the defender’s age does not fit with the usual profile of City signings in the way that summer arrivals Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres do, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak explained the club need to be pragmatic enough when an opportunity comes up that the squad needs and the manager wants.