With the future uncertain as far as what it will take for Manchester City to achieve dream signing Lionel Messi, the Kalidou Koulibaly saga has taken another turn.
Prior to Lionel Messi’s earth-shattering transfer request from Barcelona, nearly the entirety of the summer has been based around rumors circling between Manchester City and Kalidou Koulibaly. With the best player in the world now available and reportedly closing in on City as his next destination, Koulibaly news has shifted completely to the backburner, even though his signature is still crucial for next season.
Napoli have driven a tough bargain, and if City are forced to pay a significant transfer fee for Messi, they could find it difficult to also bring in Koulibaly. Therefore, City must proceed with the utmost caution and hope that Barcelona will honor Messi’s free transfer clause out of respect for their greatest-ever player’s wishes. With Messi set to reveal his desire to leave publicly in the coming days, he could mount even greater pressure on the club to let him go, but if reports of a potential reduced release clause of £134 million are true, I do not believe City can afford him.
I believe that in that scenario, City would be forced into a crucial decision. Center-back is a more important area of the team, but Messi is the greatest player of all time who will completely change the manner in which the club is viewed. City have never spent more than £62 million on any one player, and I find it hard to believe they will double the club spending record for a 33-year old.
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Bringing in Messi and Koulibaly in the same window is the power move the club needs to truly ascend back to the top level, but it will be anything but a straightforward operation. If there must be a transfer fee for Messi, City will need to swap Eric García and Angeliño at well above their market value to make the deal financially viable, and even then could struggle to also get a Koulibaly deal over the line.
City still need to fix their defense, and I believe Koulibaly is the best candidate to do so. With the transfer saga carrying on, I’m increasingly more skeptical that City will be able to complete the deal, and throwing in the potential for a big-money Messi transfer complicates things even further. This could go in multiple directions; in the best case scenario, City get Messi for free and negotiate Koulibaly down to an acceptable price, but in the worst case, City end up with neither as they are priced out of a Messi deal and Napoli refuse to back down. The coming days and weeks will be crucial for the future of the club.