Manchester City Transfer News: Latest Kalidou Koulibaly, Aaron Martin Rumours

Manchester City target Kalidou Koulibaly is reportedly happy at Napoli after being linked with the Citizens over the summer. Elsewhere, Pep Guardiola's side are said to be closing in on Espanyol defender Aaron Martin.

Koulibaly's agent, Bruno Satin, recently appeared on Radio Crc (h/t Football Italia) and was quizzed on the centre-back's presumed price tag, although he failed to go into the specific details:

“How much is Koulibaly worth? I don't know, in the most recent summer some of the rules of the transfer market changed.

“We renewed his contract a year ago, and it's valid until 2021. He's calm and happy, he's playing for Napoli in a great team which is top of the league.

“It's been a long time since Napoli have played such fun and spectacular football, they score so many goals, and you can see that the players love playing in this team."

Whatever Koulibaly's worth may be, it's sure to be more than the €65 million (£57.5 million) City offered for his services at the end of the summer transfer window, per La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia).

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has formed a habit of being stubborn when it comes to the sales of his star men, and FourFourTwo's Michael Yokhin recently suggested Koulibaly fits that profile:

Guardiola started captain and star central defender Vincent Kompany in the first three Premier League games of the season, but the Belgian has been out with injury since as his fitness woes endure.

John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi have formed City's centre-back partnership in his stead, while Eliaquim Mangala is another option. The Citizens aren't the only team interested in Koulibaly, however, as Liverpool chief Jurgen Klopp confirmed his side assessed the Senegal international as well, per Anfield HQ:

It seems even less likely Napoli will cash in on their defensive talisman after making a dream start to their campaign, winning their first seven games of the season, but not even the Naples outfit may be able to resist City's riches.

Meanwhile, Catalan newspaper Sport (h/t TalkSport) reported Espanyol left-back Martin has caught City's eye as a replacement for injured Benjamin Mendy, who is set for a seven-month spell on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament:

The Citizens allowed former left-backs Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov to leave over the summer, and Mendy arrived from AS Monaco for a £52 million fee to become the most expensive defender in world football.

Fellow summer signing Danilo can offer cover on the left, but it's said City will now launch a January raid to sign 20-year-old Martin rather than wait until the summer months, as previously planned.