Manchester United set sights on £90m summer bid for new defender

Manchester United are preparing a £90m bid to sign Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly in the summer, reports The Sun.

The Red Devils have made bolstering their defensive ranks a priority at the end of the season and are determined to sign a world class centre-back.

Virgil van Dijk has illustrated the worth of spending big on a centre-back after transforming Liverpool into genuine title challengers in the last 12 months.

United are now even willing to pay over the £75m fee Liverpool shelled out for Van Dijk in January 2017 and have earmarked Koulibaly as their top transfer target.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were keen on the Senegal international in January but accepted Napoli would not sell midway through the season.

United will not relent in their pursuit of the powerful centre-back at the end of the season, though, and are plotting a £90m move for the 27-year-old.

Since the beginning of last season, Koulibaly has completed the most passes in Serie A (4066) to accentuate his statistically calculated strength of ‘passing’.