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Napoli's Koulibaly tracked by two EPL clubs
Now in his second season with the Partenopei, the former Genk defender's arrival was greeted with consternation. Napoli were accused of doing little to reinforce their back line, which promptly wilted in their disastrous elimination to Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League qualifying rounds.
A year on, however, it seems that Aurelio de Laurentiis' club did do something right - for its long-term prospects.
Koulibaly didn't take long to earn a starting spot last season, and didn't let the arrival of Spurs' Vlad Chiriches bring him down, either.
The result: eight weeks in, the Romanian international is on the bench, and the Senegalese stopper is topping the Gazzetta dello Sport's defender rankings along with Fiorentina's Davide Astori, with an average of 6,58.
Such a good start has attracted the attention of Premier League clubs Norwich and Southampton, according to a number of British media outlets. It would be quite ironic for him to replace a Premier League import... only to then move to England himself.
Watch this space!