Kalidou Koulibaly has reportedly signed a new €6 million per year to become Napoli's highest-paid player and he deserves it purely for the way in which he chose to defend against Kylian Mbappe, to be honest.
Back in October Napoli were able to nullify the PSG hot-shot fairly well during the Champions League Group stage clash at the Parc des Princes, with the former Monaco man getting a 3/10 from L'Equipe for his below-par performance.
Koulibaly was in imperious form, with undoubtedly his best moment coming when he went to extreme lengths to ensure his left-back was much tighter on the Mbappe.
With the scores at 1-1 in the 75th minute, the World Cup winner had the ball on the right and recognising that Marco Rui was too far away, Koulibaly literally shoved his teammate so that he was closer to the Mbappe, who was then forced to concede possession.
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The whole thing was something you'd expect on a mucky playing field at 9am on a Sunday, not in Europe's premier competition.
Koulibaly, who is said to have been the subject of a £95 million bid from Manchester United that was rejected by Napoli, then showed that he's much more than a defensive-minded player who reads the game brilliantly when he recorded an outrageous assist for Lorenzo Insigne's opening goal in the 5-1 thrashing of Empoli in November
Always wanting to be aggressive and play on the front foot, the 27-year old was quick to intercept a loose pass and instead of moving the ball on, took matters into his own hands by storming up the left flank.
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Most central defenders would normally get a nose bleed being that far up the pitch but Koulibaly completed his surge by cutting back for Insigne, who took one touch and then fired home.
His manager Carlo Ancelotti paid Koulibaly the ultimate compliment when he said the Senegalese is one of the best he's ever worked with.
"Kalidou Koulibaly is one of the best I've ever coached, along with the likes of Maldini, Nesta, Cannavaro, Ramos, Thuram and Terry," the 59-year old said.
"At this moment I think Koulibaly is one of the best in the world."
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Napoli have done very well to tie him down to a deal, and most importantly, not include a release clause in his contract.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Paris Saint-Germain, Football, PSG, Napoli, Champions League, Kylian Mbappe, France, Kalidou Koulibaly, Italy
