Koulibaly wanted 100m Man Utd move but Ancelotti ‘would have resigned’

Former Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly says he wanted to join Manchester United in 2018, but Carlo Ancelotti threatened that he would have resigned if the Partenopei had accepted a €100m offer from Old Trafford.

Former Napoli centre-back Koulibaly wanted to join Manchester United in the summer of 2018, but the then-Partenopei boss Ancelotti managed to avoid his exit.

Koulibaly, currently under contract with Al-Hilal, spoke to the Podcast Zack en Roue Libre (via TMW) about his transfer situation at that time.

“Napoli had received an offer worth €100m from Manchester United, but they rejected it,” said the defender.

“Ancelotti came to me and said: ‘I came here to win the Scudetto. What do you want to do?’

“I replied: ‘I wanted to leave, why?’”

“He [Ancelotti] said he knew about he offer, but if I had left, he would have resigned the following day.”

Koulibaly, however, strongly wanted to leave the club.

“I thought my time at Napoli was over; I had given my all. I had spent four seasons there, and I could have had the best contract of my career,” he said.

“In the evening, Ancelotti called me and said: ‘Come to my room.’ He opened the door and said: ‘Ah, mon ami Kalidou!’ He spoke French, we were both wearing a pyjama; I was shocked.

“I explained to him that I wasn’t happy and that I thought the president had lacked respect towards me for the way he spoke.”

Ultimately, Ancelotti convinced Koulibaly to remain at Napoli. The Senegal international only left the club in 2022, joining Chelsea for circa €40m including add-ons.

He only spent one season at Stamford Bridge, joining Saudi side Al-Hilal in the 2023 summer transfer window.

Koulibaly scored 14 goals in 317 appearances with Napoli. He won one Supercoppa Italiana and one Coppa Italia during his time at the club.