The Senegal international was reportedly scouted by both Chelsea and Manchester United and his agent has confirmed the player was up for sale during the off-season.
Southampton and Norwich, as well as Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, were unwilling to meet Napoli’s £10million asking price.
“Early in the summer the player was put up for sale, but with a very high asking price,” Bruno Satin told Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli.
“Maybe at a certain point they realised that it could be a mistake to sell him.
Also, the teams interested were not on the same level as Napoli.
“We spoke to Southampton, Norwich and Bayer Leverkusen, they were looking for a defender on loan. Napoli asked for twice as much as they’d spent.”