Liverpool £32m short of Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly asking price – Paper Round
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Updated 22/06/2020 at 09:12 GMT
Liverpool chasing Kalidou Koulibaly, Lionel Messi contract talks, Chris Smalling's Roma stay and Kyle Walker to Inter all feature in Monday’s Paper Round.
Kalidou Koulibaly
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Napoli want £90m for Koulibaly
Liverpool want to sign Kalidou Koulibaly but are £32m short of Napoli’s asking price, the Daily Mail reports. Liverpool are keen for the defender to partner Virgil van Dijk, but with several clubs also interested Napoli have valued the Senegalese centre-back at £90m – a whole £32m more than the bid £58m Liverpool are said to have submitted.
Paper Round’s view: From not wanting to pay Timo Werner’s release clause, to reportedly offering £58m to sign Koulibaly? Sounds unlikely, and the chances of Liverpool meeting the £90m asking price seems almost non-existent. But, just never know…
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Chelsea’s €70m Kai Havertz chase takes twist as player sets own transfer deadline – Euro Papers
Messi contract talks begin
Barcelona have opened talks with Lionel Messi regarding a new two-year contract, the Mirror reports. Messi’s clause that allowed him to leave for free this summer expired earlier this month, with the contract extending to 2021 in the process. Now Barca are keen to tie the Argentine down for a further two years – Messi would be 35 come June 24 in 2023.
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Players try to calm Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (C) during the Spanish league football match between Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville on June 19, 2020.
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Paper Round’s view: It’s Messi, so there’s no need to speculate whether a deal is worth it, but you have to wonder if it would be the last? Signing a deal soon, knowing it would be his final contract at the club, would give the club three years to start planning for life after Messi. It seems unthinkable, but should Messi fulfil his desire to return to Argentina and play for hometown club Newell’s Old Boys then 2023 could be the year that happens. That being said, Messi has also said he would like to retire at Barca, so the jury’s out.
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Roma ‘breakthrough’ for Smalling
Roma are increasingly confident of loaning Chris Smalling again with an option to buy the Manchester United defender next year, the Daily Mail reports. Smalling has cut a rejuvenated figure at Roma this season, and the Serie A club are keen to make the move permanent, but only after loaning the 30-year-old for another season.
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Gianluca Mancini of Roma celebrates with Chris Smalling of Roma after scoring the goal of 3-0 during the Serie A match AS Roma v Brescia Fc at the Olimpico Stadium in Rome, Italy on November 24, 2019
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Paper Round’s view: With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turning to Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof more often than not, and Phil Jones and Eric Bailly the current back-ups, at 30 Smalling does not really have a future at United – whether that means a permanent move to Roma remains to be seen, but his time in the Italian capital has certainly boosted his prospects wherever he ends up.
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Kyle Walker to Inter?
Manchester City defender Kyle Walker could follow in the footsteps of Romelu Lukaku, Ashley Young and Christian Eriksen in leaving the Premier League to join Inter, The Sun reports. The Serie A club are hoping to tempt Walker into a move away from England after the 30-year-old endured a turbulent few months when breaking coronavirus guidelines on several occasions during lockdown. Walker signed a five-year deal with City last summer.
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Kyle Walker
Image credit: Getty Images
Paper Round’s view: Seems a tad far-fetched with Walker still a regular starter for City despite Joao Cancelo’s presence. The remaining games this season could perhaps shed light on which player Pep Guardiola views as his first-choice right-back for the following season.
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