To PSG
©IMAGO
This article was first published on March 20th at 5:46 p.m. and has now been updated with new information.
Karim Coulibaly is likely to be the most exciting personality at Werder Bremen in the summer. The “Bild” recently reported that those responsible are planning to make the 18-year-old defender a record departure, now, according to the “Deichstube”, the first European heavyweight has shown increased interest in him. This is no less a club than Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain.
Coulibaly was recently missing from Werder’s relegation battle with a thigh injury, was back in the squad in the 2-0 defeat against Mainz and was used again in the direct duel with VfL Wolfsburg last Saturday. According to the “Deichstube” report, scouts for the French champions have already been there several times to observe the defender. In addition, this would be high on the list for PSG coach Luis Enrique. There would have already been contact between PSG and the players’ side.
Update March 24, 4:23 p.m.: According to information from “Bild”, four other top European clubs have Coulibaly on their list. These are Newcastle United and Chelsea FC in England, SSC Napoli in Italy and Olympique Marseille in France. Serious discussions about a change are said to have already been held with the first two clubs mentioned. Napoli and OM should also be able to afford the desired transfer fee of around 45 million euros. However, there are no official offers yet.
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In a disappointing Werder season, Coulibaly, who came from Hamburger SV’s youth team in 2024, is one of the bright spots. Out of necessity, Coulibaly made his Bundesliga debut on matchday 1 against Eintracht Frankfurt and was in the starting line-up against Bayer Leverkusen a week later. In the furious 3:3, the defensive talent initially made an uncertain impression, but scored the equalizer in stoppage time. Since then it has been hard to imagine the team without him, also because the experienced central defenders Amos Pieper, Niklas Stark and Maximilian Wöber are repeatedly unavailable. In the most recent market value update, he climbed from 20 million to 22 million euros – making him by far the most valuable Bremer. On Friday he was also nominated for the German U21 national team for the first time.
There is great interest in the Weser in concluding the negotiations for Coulibaly early in order to be able to plan the squad as quickly as possible. Since there is no exit clause in his contract, which runs until 2029, the Green-Whites are demanding a transfer fee of between 40 million and 45 million euros – a club record. The U21 international would face great competition at PSG, as Enrique has four top-class central defenders at his disposal: captain Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Ilya Zabarnyi and Lucas Beraldo.
