I've sort of given up trying to figure out what's going on with these transfers, but in the cases of Kalidou Koulibaly, Axel Witsel, and Antonio Candreva, the same names keep popping up.
Napoli want Candreva, but Chelsea have stepped in.
Chelsea want Koulibaly, but Everton have stepped in.
Everton want Witsel, but Napoli have stepped in. Or Chelsea have stepped in? Both? Neither?
If you shake these rumors around long enough, all possible combinations will get exhausted at some point.
Reports yesterday in Italy claimed that Everton are with a €45m bid for Kalidou Koulibaly, which is €5m more than Chelsea's supposed latest bid. Flush with cash from new ownership and full of new hope with a new manager and (so far) hanging on to all their top young players, Everton are looking to win the race for the 25-year-old center back who looks set to leave Napoli. Which would be annoying, given our long(er)-standing pursuit of the big man.
Whether this has anything to do with the Axel Witsel rumors (he's been linked to all three teams recently) or the Candreva rumors (that we talked about the other day), I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. The rumor mill likes nothing more than a tangled mess.