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Arsenal facing battle to sign £30m Senegal international – report

By on July 11, 2016

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal will not only have to fend off interest from Chelsea but will now face fresh competition from Everton for the signature of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.

Arsene Wenger is believed to be in the market for a new centre-back this summer as neither Per Mertesacker or Gabriel have shown they are capable of being the reliable partner we need for Laurent Koscielny.

Koulibaly has emerged as a key target in recent weeks with Mirror reporting earlier this month that Arsenal were battling-it-out with Chelsea to secure a deal for the £30m-rated centre-back.

However, it appears we’ll now also have to fend off interest from Everton as the Daily Mail claim that the Toffees have now made contact with Napoli to express their interest as Ronald Koeman looks to spend some of their newly-found wealth.

The Dutchman has a sizeable transfer kitty at his disposal after Everton were bought out by a billionaire businessman and now the Merseysiders could drive Koulibaly’s price-tag up even further.

We all know Arsene doesn’t like to engage in bidding wars so if that becomes the case, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see us back off and look at other [cheaper] targets.

That would be a shame to miss out as Koulibaly is a huge talent and was a key force in helping Napoli finish second in Serie A last season, and the powerful, pacey centre-back should have no trouble adapting to life in England.

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I’d love to see us sign the 25-year-old Senegal international this summer but that could depend largely on how much the likes of Chelsea and Everton are willing to pay for the player.