---
title: "Liverpool: Reds set to go back in for Kalidou Koulibaly in January"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/liverpool-reds-set-to-go-back-in-for-kalidou-koulibaly-in-january/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Nathan Linley"
section: "Liverpool Football Club"
published: "2020-11-15T14:10:13Z"
modified: "2020-11-15T14:10:13Z"
---

# Liverpool: Reds set to go back in for Kalidou Koulibaly in January

**Liverpool will look to go in for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly in January, according to reports.**

### Koulibaly on Anfield radar

Jurgen Klopp’s side are going through a severe injury crisis in their defensive department, with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez [sidelined](https://talksport.com/football/789278/liverpool-joe-gomez-knee-injury-january-transfer-window/) for the foreseeable future.

This leaves just Joel Matip as the club’s only established centre-back who is available for selection, despite the former Schalke man struggling with his own fitness issues and with Dejan Lovren moving to [Zenit St Petersburg](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53556646) in the summer.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”333244″\]

To tackle their issues, [reports](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/liverpool-transfer-news-january-klopp-23001258) suggest that Klopp will have a change of heart and move for Koulibaly but Napoli’s stance in terms of an asking price will not change and they will still expect €70m (£62.7m) to be paid to obtain his services in January.

The Senegal international has his own fanbase in the form of famous faces. Pepe Reina, who used to play alongside Koulibaly, [described](https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/reina-praises-extraordinary-manchester-united-target/2wytf3dbju351r5hbkaktk1ld) him as “phenomenal”, while football legend Diego Maradona [shown his support](https://www.instagram.com/p/BsA1NI5lDtS/?utm_source=ig_embed) after a crunch clash with Juventus.

### Transfer Tavern take

It would be a stunning swoop if Liverpool were to capture Koulibaly, who was linked with a move to Manchester City before the Citizens opted to go with Ruben Dias instead (via [talkSPORT](https://talksport.com/football/766906/man-city-embarrassing-gaffe-kalidou-koulibaly-ruben-dias/#:~:text=Manchester%20City%20made%20a%20quite,a%20deal%20worth%20%C2%A362million.)).

From 255 appearances, he has scored 10 times and provided five assists, racking up over 22,000 minutes of game time ([TransferMarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/kalidou-koulibaly/leistungsdatenverein/spieler/93128)). Pairing him alongside anyone at Anfield would be an ideal replacement for Van Dijk.

However, after Liverpool have felt the squeeze due to the pandemic, the question remains as to whether they would be willing to pay such a large fee for the centre-back.

***In other news, [Liverpool star labelled as ‘greedy’ in a nonsensical claim](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/liverpool-fc-news/liverpool-andy-goldstein-believes-mohamed-salah-is-not-world-class/).***