Kalidou Koulibaly's agent reveals he is 'always' talking to clubs such as Chelsea and Liverpool

The agent of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has revealed that talks have taken place between him and Chelsea and Liverpool but says Mauricio Sarri's men are in a position to reject any offer that may come their way.

Koulibaly has established himself as one of Serie A's most imperious defenders and his form and transformation under the tutelage of Sarri led him to be the subject of strong interest from Premier League clubs last summer.

Chelsea were monitoring but never made an official bid, while Everton, heavily backed financially by majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, were unsuccessful with their offer of around £50m.

Koulibaly remained and enjoyed another productive season in Naples as the Partenopei secured Champions League qualification, but speculation over his future still persists with clubs all around Europe looking to strengthen defensively. Liverpool and Chelsea are just two of those sides, and Koulibaly's agent Bruno Satin has seemingly attempted to get the wheels turning on a potential transfer.

"Important players can receive offers, but at the moment he's a Napoli player and they can also reject them," Satin told Radio CRC, relayed by The Daily Star. "Every day you can read about interested clubs, in terms of rumours you in Italy are top of the world.

"It's nonsense, and you don't only do it with Kalidou. There's a healthy working relationship with Napoli. Chelsea and Liverpool? I always talk with these kind of clubs, but about all of my clients, not just Kalidou. I do my job, we're in the transfer window.

"Big clubs are looking for great players, and Napoli have a lot of good, in-demand players - [Dries] Mertens, [Marek] Hamsik, [Arkadiusz] Milik, [Lorenzo] Insigne..."

Chelsea may turn to Koulibaly with Juventus' £50m valuation of Leonardo Bonucci perhaps too dear for a 30-year-old, while Liverpool may look to shop in Naples after failing spectacularly in their pursuit of Southampton captain Virgil van Dijk.