Koulibaly: Ancelotti kept me at Napoli despite £100m United bid | OneFootball

The Senegalese defender recounts an untold episode from 2018: Carlo Ancelotti was crucial in preventing him from leaving Napoli, even in the face of a massive offer from Manchester United.

Koulibaly reveals the backstory about Ancelotti: “He was the one who kept me at Napoli despite United’s 100 million offer”

Koulibaly reveals: “Ancelotti stopped me, he would have resigned if I had left”

During an interview on the French podcast Zack en Roue Libre, Kalidou Koulibaly shared a surprising backstory related to his years at Napoli. According to the defender, now playing for Al-Hilal, the then Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti was instrumental in convincing him to stay despite a sensational offer from Manchester United.

“The club had received an offer of 100 million euros from Manchester United, but the club had rejected it. Then Ancelotti came and said to me: ‘I came here to win the championship. What do you want to do?’ I replied that I wanted to leave. He replied that he knew the situation, but if I left, he would resign the next day,” Koulibaly recounts.

“He called me to his room: we were in pajamas, he said he would sort everything out”

The defender continues, recalling a peculiar episode from those tense hours. “That evening he called me to his room. We were both in pajamas. I explained that I was not happy and felt disrespected by the president for the way he spoke to me. I told Ancelotti that I respected him, but I had already packed my bags and booked the taxi for the next day. He replied: ‘Don’t worry, tomorrow everything will be sorted out.’”

The next day, Ancelotti didn’t find Koulibaly at lunch and decided to contact him directly: “He said to me: ‘I’ve sorted everything out, you’re not leaving. You’re staying with me and renewing the contract.’ I didn’t want to sign, but he insisted: ‘You said you appreciate me, that you adore me, right?’ In the end, I spoke with the president, we cleared everything up, and reached an agreement. He didn’t want to sell me even for 100 million.”

The bond with Napoli and the esteem for Ancelotti

Those words tell more than any figure about the human relationship that had developed between Koulibaly and Ancelotti, and between the defender and the city of Napoli. The Senegalese center-back, now a key player for Al-Hilal and the Senegal national team, wanted to highlight the centrality of the Italian coach in his journey: a man capable of combining firmness, empathy, and authority.

Behind the decision to stay, in fact, there was not only a technical or economic evaluation but the strength of a human and professional bond: the one that made Koulibaly one of the most beloved symbols of modern Napoli.

A symbol of loyalty and respect

In Koulibaly’s account, his loyalty to the Napoli project and to a city that adopted him emerges. “In the end, I made peace with the president and decided to stay. We spoke with respect,” concluded the defender, recalling that moment as one of the most intense of his career.

A backstory that shows the other side of football: behind the million-dollar negotiations, there are often human relationships and deep values capable of changing the course of sporting choices.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.