Chelsea transfer news: Napoli offer Kalidou Koulibaly new contract in bid to keep defender out of Blues’ grasp

NAPOLI have dealt Chelsea another blow in their pursuit for defender Kalidou Koulibaly as the Italians offer their man a contract extension to 2021. 

The contract on the table is said to have a release clause of over £60m in attempt to put off clubs in Europe trying to snatch away the clubs best defender.

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According to La Gazzetta dello sport  the Italians are desperate to tie down the player to a new deal Chelsea have pursued the defender all summer and as the window nears to a close this will be a terrible blow to have not got a deal over the line.

It means that Koulibaly will be out of reach for at least another year and will now likely command an astronomical fee if the club were to continue their interest.

Chelsea are however looking at other targets but have just had a bid turned down for Alessio Romagnoli by AC Milan further frustrating their search for a new defender.

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If Chelsea are to still nab the defender before the close of the window then it is likely that will break their transfer record which they set when signing Fernando Torres for £50m.

Napoli have lost Gonzalo Higuain this summer to Juventus and will not want to lose another star player regardless of the high transfer sums being spent by teams from the Premier League.