Senegal’s Koulibaly Better than Gerard Pique, Godwin, Bonucci – Football Data Experts

Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly has been named among the world’s best centre-backs ahead of Barca’s Pique.

Valued in excess of £54m, the Senegal international gets the pick in a compilation by football experts working for data company CIES.

The sampling, done across the five best leagues in Europe namely the La Liga, Ligue 1, EPL, Serie A and Bundesliga, sees the 27-year-old long term Chelsea transfer target rated as six best in the globe.

Born in Paris, the Teranga Lions’ vice-captain is also mentioned ahead of Atletico Madrid’s Godwin, Aymeric Laporte of Manchester City, Barca’s Gerard Pique and Leonardo Bonucci of Juventus.

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is accorded the top spot while Inter Milan’s £8.6m July signing from Sampdoria, now valued in excess of £36m, comes at second place.

The 23-year-old Slovakian’s stock continues to rise since his move from hometown team MSK Zilina in 2016.

He is already courting interest from Manchester United with Mourinho believed to be a keen admirer.

Using rigor, recovery and distribution as a yardstick in their analysis, the CIES experts gave Chelsea’s German international Antonio Rudiger a third-place rating while Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos is ranked fourth and Brazil and PSG’s Marquinhos at fifth place.