Everton ready to beat Chelsea to signing of £40m defender

Everton are reportedly ready to beat Chelsea to the £40 million signing of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, according to Gazzetta World.

With Toffees defender John Stones continuing to be linked with a £50 million move to Premier League rivals Manchester City, new Everton boss Ronald Koeman is keen to bring in a centre-back this summer, and his top target is the Senegal international, who impressed as Napoli finished second in Serie A last season.

However, new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is also keen on the 25-year-old as he looks to boost a defence that conceded 53 goals in the English top-flight in 2015/16, as the Blues ended the campaign in 10th position.

The former Italy coach would like to sign Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci, but with the defender unlikely to leave the Serie A champions this summer, Conte has turned his attentions to Koulibaly, who has made 81 appearances in all competitions for the Partenopei since joining from Genk in 2014.