PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Faouzi Ghoulam - Algerian receives praise from former Napoli trainer

by Graeme Jackson

Wednesday Jan 17, 2018. 19:00

With Algerian star Faouzi Ghoulam set to make an earlier-than-expected return from the serious knee injury he suffered in November last year, a former Napoli physical trainer has shared an anecdote about the player.

Corrado Saccone, who worked at the Italian club as the fitness coach from 2010/11 until the end of last season, says that Ghoulam showed an extraordinary physicality from the moment he arrived at Napoli in 2014.

"For me, Faouzi is a world-class player, he has his place in big clubs like Barça, Real, Liverpool or Juventus, and Naples has had some flair for recruiting him,” Saccone told TuttoJuve.

“I still remember his arrival in Naples, when he was given the usual physical tests. He already showed an extraordinary resistance.

“When he got on the treadmill, we had to stop him because after an hour and five minutes, we thought we were not going home that day (laughs).

“And the evidence is there: it shows today that it can recover from an injury in record time.”

Ghoulam is also celebrating today after he was named the Algerian Player of the Year on Tuesday, beating off competition from the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Yacine Brahimi.