Napoli negotiating contract extension for Kalidou Koulibaly

Napoli have a number of important players with contracts starting to wind down, or who have vastly out-performed their current deals and could use a raise in order to keep bigger clubs from lurking around in transfer rumors. One of those players is defender Kalidou Koulibaly, and given current reports, it sounds like they're working on a deal to extend him right now.

According to reports, Koulibaly's agent Bruno Satin is in Italy to meet with club representatives on contract talks. Koulibaly was offered a new deal in February, but his agent threatened to derail those talks with bizarre media statements that Napoli is "too small" for his client.

Fortunately, talk like that has died down in recent weeks, though not without rumors of interest from the likes of Manchester United and Bayern Munich. If those rumors are legitimate -- and who can ever tell with March rumors -- then it would certainly add a sense of urgency to Napoli's efforts to extend Koulibaly.

Rumors aside, the things we know are these: Koulibaly's contract currently runs through 2019. He's certainly outperformed that contract in the nearly two seasons he's been with Napoli, and deserves a raise. His agent being in town is good news, and hopefully we'll have even better news to report sooner rather than later.

Keeping Koulibaly around long-term would be an excellent move for Napoli, because he's definitely the kind of player a team of Napoli's stature and ambitions can build a defense around. Now they need to get the job done, and soon.