5 centre-backs to watch out for this World cup

#1 Kalidou Koulibaly

Koulibaly was born and raised in France by Senegalese parents,and was therefore eligible for both nations.

The Senegalese giant is one of the biggest factors behind Napoli’s assault on the Serie-A title this year.

Having landed in southern Italy back in May 2014 after a £5.1 million move from Racing Genk, the Senegalese defender looked awkward and ungainly, often getting caught out of position and appearing to lack both the tactical discipline and concentration necessary to succeed in Serie A.

However manager Maurizio Sarri had different ideas for the player who struggled greatly under then manager Rafael Benitez and was on the verge of a transfer away from the club. Under Sarri’s diligent guidance, the defender is recording career-best statistics in Italy and all of Europe's top leagues.

With most modern defenders losing more tackles than they win, in an attempt to focus on interceptions and clearances, Koulibaly is a little old-school - launching a tackle as soon as he sees the opportunity to win the ball.

He is a robust man-marker who forwards generally don't get the better of and to top it off, he also boasts fine passing ability to go with it. His biggest improvement has been in terms of positioning as Koulibaly seems to always be in the right place to steal the ball away from an opponent rather than attempting to recover it.

Standing at 6 ft 5 inches all, Koulibaly is a towering presence everywhere in the field and wins a fair amount of his aerial duels.

The 26-year-old has helped his team keep the best defensive record in Serie-A this season and with rumors of a summer exit beginning to grow stronger, Koulibaly will be hot property if he keeps up his current rate of progress as Senegal look to make some major impact in Russia.