Manchester United made an offer for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly this summer.

The bid was lodged before United reached a deal for Real Madrid cenrte-half Raphael Varane.

Speaking on the podcast Ne Parliamo Il Martedi, Corriere dello Sport's Antonio Giordano revealed that Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis batted away a number of offers for the club's top stars.

"De Laurentiis had the strength to refuse all the offers that arrived for the big names, in particular for Koulibaly," Giordano said.

"Manchester United were ready to offer €35m, but the boss made it known that for that amount Kalidou would not move."