PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Kalidou Koulibaly - Why he hung up on Rafa Benitez

Udinese's Silvan Widmer (C) and Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly (R) in action during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Udinese Calcio and SSC Napoli at Friuli stadium in Udine, Italy, 26 November 2017. EPA/ALBERTO LANCIA

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Tuesday Mar 27, 2018. 13:00

Senegal and Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has revealed that getting a phone call from a manager is unusual and said he once dropped a call from Rafael Benitez.

The Lions of Teranga centre-back thought the call was a prank and hung up - he could not believe the coach was the one who called.

Koulibaly also revealed that he dropped the call two or three times because he thought his teammates were teasing him.

The Oranje Blog reports that the Newcastle United boss likes to speak directly with his transfer targets before signing them.

He did likewise with Mikel Merino, Florian Lejeune and Martin Dubravka before they joined the Magpies, for example.

Based in the Italian Serie A, Koulibaly was even more shocked than most players when the former Liverpool manager tried to phone him during the summer of 2014.

“I hung up on Benitez two or three times,” Koulibaly told Oranje Blog.

However, Kalidou will be looking forward to their international friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday night at the Stade Oceane.