Koulibaly: Sarri kept telling me I could not be a good defender
The former centre-back, now at Al-Hilal, recalled his Napoli years on a Saudi podcast, from Rafa Benítez's call to a tough relationship with Maurizio Sarri.
Kalidou Koulibaly, now at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, has revisited his years at Napoli on the Saudi podcast "The Mo Show". He says it was Rafa Benítez who signed him, into a city where, as he put it, "there's only one team for a city of 3 million people". He thought only of Napoli and wanted to win trophies and see the club back in the Champions League. His first year was hard, he says, because he did not yet feel ready for such a big step up, before he grew into what he calls the best spell of his career, once he changed the way he looked after his body.
Koulibaly also spoke about his relationship with Maurizio Sarri, who spoke only Italian, with a Tuscan accent he found hard to follow, and worked without an interpreter. Koulibaly learned the language through lessons, helped daily by his close friend Ghoulam and by Jorginho. Sarri, he says, was "very tough and strict" and kept repeating the same line to him.
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Kouli non può giocare in quel modo, non può essere un buon difensore
He says he turned that harshness into motivation, adding: "it's also thanks to Sarri that I became what I am".
Source: AreaNapoli
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