Saturday's Manchester City transfer talk news roundup: Kalidou Koulibaly, Houssem Aouar, Dani Ceballos

The summer transfer window has now begun, with rumours and speculation continuing to swirl as Manchester City eye possible reinforcements.

The 2018-19 champions did not bring in a single player during the January transfer window, despite suffering a defensive shortage for much of the 2019-20 campaign, but they have already started their business for the summer.

Here, Sports Mole rounds up the latest news on possible comings and goings at the Etihad.

Saturday morning's Manchester City transfer talk news roundup:

Houssem Aouar 'Arsenal's number one target this summer'

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Arsenal have identified Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar as their top transfer target heading into the new Premier League season, according to a report.

Despite securing the services of Real Madrid's Dani Ceballos on loan for a second season, the Gunners are supposedly eyeing up further midfield reinforcements including Aouar and Thomas Partey.

Aouar is contracted to Lyon until 2023 and would reportedly cost in the region of €60m (£55.4m) to prise him away from Lyon, but ESPN reports that Arsenal are determined to land the 22-year-old before the transfer window closes.

The report claims that Mikel Arteta wants to build his Arsenal side around Aouar and technical director Edu is in negotiations with Lyon regarding a potential move.

The Gunners previously offered out-of-favour midfielder Matteo Guendouzi as part of a deal for Aouar, but Lyon chief Juninho revealed that the Ligue 1 outfit had turned down that proposal.

Aouar registered nine goals and ten assists for Les Gones across all competitions during the 2019-20 campaign.

Kalidou Koulibaly 'desperate for Manchester City move'

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Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly is reportedly eyeing up a move to Manchester City amid persistent speculation regarding a potential switch to the Premier League.

The Senegal international has been tipped to make the move to the English top flight for the past few months, although City have reportedly reached an impasse in negotiations due to Napoli's valuation of Koulibaly.

A recent report suggested that bitter rivals Manchester United could attempt to steal a march in the race for the highly-rated defender, with City also said to be looking at Atletico Madrid's Jose Gimenez, having already brought in Nathan Ake from Bournemouth.

However, Italian outlet Corriere del Mezzogirono claims that Koulibaly wants to make a move to a high-profile club before it is too late, with the 29-year-old currently tied down to Napoli until 2023.

While negotiations between City and Napoli have already been dragged out for a while, the report also claims that talks could be further impacted as Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis has tested positive for coronavirus.

Koulibaly has turned out 246 times for Napoli since arriving from Genk in 2014, notching up 10 goals in that time.

More transfer news from Manchester City:

Oleksandr Zinchenko agent opens door to Kalidou Koulibaly swap deal
The agent of Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko says that the Ukraine international is open to featuring in any part-exchange deal with Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly. Read more.

Manchester United set to snap up starlet Charlie McNeill from Manchester City
United are set to pay an initial fee of just under £750,000. Read more.