Man Utd Must Pay £133m To Sign Napoli Defender

Premier League giants Manchester United will have to pay the £133m (€150m) release clause in the contract of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly to secure his transfer this summer.

This is according to the publication from Italian media portal Corriere dello Sport which claimed that the Red Devils will have to pay a world-record fee of £133m for the Senegalese international centre back.

Manchester United are willing to spend as much as £85m on Koulibaly which would still be a world-record fee for a defender.

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk holds the record for the most expensive defender in world football after his move last year.

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The Reds paid £75m to sign Dutch international Van Dijk from fellow Premier League club Southampton during the winter transfer window of last season.

Kalidou Koulibaly and Virgil Van Dijk are widely regarded as the top two centre backs on the world football stage.

Apart from Manchester United, Senegalese international star Koulibaly is also attracting interest from clubs like Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid.

The defender has been a key player for Napoli since joining them from Genk in the summer of 2014.

He has helped Napoli to the second position in three of the last four seasons including the just concluded campaign.