Is Kalidou Koulibaly the best partner for Virgil Van Dijk?

Kalidou Koulibaly is being linked here, there and everywhere at the moment but the likely destination is the Premier League. There are several clubs such as Manchester United, and Chelsea who are interested in signing the 27-year-old but Liverpool should be the main club trying to secure his services.

It is no secret that Liverpool have improved in defence and that is thanks to the signing of Virgil Van Dijk. He has improved his fellow defenders such as Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren but it could be argued that Lovren is not up to the quality Liverpool need and Gomez is still at a tender age. Would Kalidou Koulibaly be the man to push them on and finally win a league title for the first time since 1989/90?

The Senegalese centre back has a massive reputation around Europe as being one of the best defenders on the continent. He was part of the side that helped Napoli to a second place finish and the side that just finished four points behind Juventus; who are usually the runaway leaders. Pepe Reina will be one of the advocates for Koulibaly joining his former side as he won the Serie A Golden Glove last season thanks to his defensive attributes.

Koulibaly is incredibly strong and rarely lets anyone past him. Standing at 6ft 4inches he is dominant in the air as well and alongside Van Dijk, who is 6ft 3inches tall, Liverpool could be dominant when defending set pieces and dangerous during attacking set pieces.

As well as being strong he is lightening quick. Pace is as important as anything when it comes to defending these days and Koulibaly is one of the quickest centre backs around. If he is partnering Van Dijk then they could be leaving space at the back as they both like to play the ball out of defence but their pace would more than make up for the space they leave.

However, his passing is his biggest attribute and the former Genk man is currently averaging around 75 passes per game this season, with 88% of the passes reaching a teammate, which is essentially like a central midfielder not a central defender. But his passing ability from the back would free up the midfielders to join the attacking trio of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah.

He would not come cheap as reports suggest he would cost around £90 million. However, many people gasped at the price tag on Van Dijk but he has been a revelation at Liverpool and there is reason to believe that Koulibaly could have the same impact.

Napoli do not seem too enthusiastic about doing a deal in January and Liverpool may have to wait until the summer. But if they go big and offer Napoli an offer they cannot refuse (no Mafia pun intended) then he could be the final piece of the jigsaw to help them lift the Premier League trophy.

  1. Yessz if he partnerd van vaider tht be the best centerback partnership in world football. With trent and robo .. it be best defence in world

  2. Lfc could mke the next step in hvn one more big window and with signings of ryan sesson :fulham/timo werno: rb lipzig/neves:wolvse/coulibaly: napoly

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