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Al-Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly has revealed that he was once prevented from completing a move to Manchester United.
Al-Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly has revealed that a proposed move to Manchester United in 2018 was blocked by Napoli, despite a huge offer on the table.

Speaking on the Zack en Roue Libre podcast, Koulibaly said:
“Napoli had received a €100m offer from Manchester United, but they turned it down. Ancelotti came to me and said: ‘I came here to win the Scudetto. What do you want to do?’ I told him I wanted to leave. He then said that if I did, he would resign the next day.”

Koulibaly admitted he believed his time at Napoli was over after four seasons:
“I thought I’d given everything to the club, and it could have been the biggest contract of my career. That evening, Ancelotti called me to his room. We were both in our pyjamas, and he greeted me with, ‘Ah, mon ami Kalidou!’ He spoke French, and I told him I wasn’t happy — that I felt disrespected by the way the president had spoken to me.”

Ultimately, the transfer was blocked, and Koulibaly remained in Naples. Four years later, in 2022, he finally made a high-profile move to Chelsea.
-Hilal

In his column for the Arsenal matchday programme, Odegaard shared an update on his recovery progress.
Odegaard said: “I’m eager to be back with the team as soon as possible, but for now my main focus remains on rehabilitation. Things are going really well, and I’ve made a lot of progress.”

“This week, I’ve started stepping up my workload, including running drills on the anti-gravity treadmill. I can feel the improvement every day — each session at the training ground allows me to do a bit more, which is a great feeling.”

“The recovery process is tough, but seeing real progress makes it all worthwhile and keeps you motivated.”

“With this kind of injury, it’s hard to set a definite return date, especially since it involves my left leg. A lot will depend on how my body reacts once I’m back on the pitch.”

“Often when you begin passing or shooting again, you can feel some soreness in the leg, so it’s difficult to be exact about a timeline right now.”

“What I can say is that recovery is going very well. Once I’m back training fully, we’ll have a clearer idea — and if everything continues as it has, I might be back sooner than expected.”