Report: Newcastle United prospective new owners want Napoli centre-back and Liverpool target Kalidou Koulibaly as their project’s cornerstone

According to Foot Mercato, PCP Capital Partners want to sign Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly as their project’s cornerstone at Newcastle United.

The consortium owner Amanda Staveley is looking to buy the Magpies in a £300 million deal and is being backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Reuben Brothers.

While it remains to be seen if the Premier League will approve the Newcastle takeover following a 15-week wait due to the Owners’ and Directors’ Test, the prospective new owners are planning for the future, and a couple of top signings are expected this summer.

Napoli aren’t willing to let Koulibaly go for anything less than £90 million, and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has reportedly called the Senegalese to convince him about a move to Anfield.

The German is said to be eyeing a Virgil van Dijk-Koulibaly centre-back partnership, but Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Everton have also been linked with the 29-year-old.

Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners – on behalf of Newcastle – have verbally offered the defender a long-term deal and are keen to have him join the backroom staff at St. James’ Park once he hangs up the boots.

It remains to be seen if their exciting project will excite Koulibaly, but things won’t take shape until the takeover is confirmed, and it will be interesting to see what happens afterwards.