"?Kalidou Koulibaly may join Chelsea from Napoli for £60m this summer, but Manchester City reportedly turned down the chance to sign the impressive central defender for just £1m in 2012.
According to "?The Sun, Roberto Mancini decided not to sign the Senegalese defender while he was in charge at the Etihad Stadium, a move the club are now regretting following the player's rise to prominence.
At the time, Koulibaly was plying his trade for second-tier French side Metz but Mancini decided to pursue English players instead.
Koulibaly is staying put at Napoli, however, according to their boss Maurizio Sarri, who criticised the player following an error-strewn display in a pre-season friendly against Hertha Berlin.
Kalidou Koulibaly: Played more forward passes (1268) than any other player in Serie A last season
"In (last week's friendly at Hertha) Berlin, Koulibaly had 20 minutes with his full repertoire of dumb mistakes, but over the rest of pre-season he did well,"? said Sarri in today's Press conference, albeit using slightly more colourful language.
"He is extraordinary, but still has moments where he goes missing. The defence is a tricky area for us, especially as in January we'll lose both Faouzi Ghoulam and Koulibaly for the Africa Cup of Nations."
It remains to be seen where Koulibaly ends up, although reports circulated during the week indicating that he was not for sale at any price, with Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis personally phoning Antonio Conte to inform him.
RUMOURS: Chelsea fail with €58m Koulibaly bid https://t.co/9VHhDCHaqN pic.twitter.com/mjgk1E95c4