On Sunday, Kalidou Koulibaly will set out to try and make history for Senegal.
The task, although difficult, is a straightforward one: overcome Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Co. at the Al Bayt Stadium and the defender will engrave his name into the Lions of Teranga’s history books once and for all.
In doing so, the fearless class of 2022 led by manager Aliou Cisse, who have been without their talisman Sadio Mane, will earn themselves a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Where either France or Poland will be waiting.
READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk speaks out on Liverpool takeover after FSG sale decision
READ MORE: Liverpool have seven months to prevent emotional departure that will hurt most
Ironically, not since Cisse was a captain at the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea have the West African nation reached the last eight of the showpiece finals. Something they have only managed to achieve once in their history.
Key to any potential defeat of England in the round-of-16 stage, which would no doubt go down as one of the World Cup’s all-time shocks, will be the Chelsea and former Napoli man, Koulibaly.
But as he prepares for one of the most defining 90 minutes of his international career, it's worth remembering how things could have been so different for the 31-year-old defensive stalwart and Liverpool.
It was in the summer of 2017 while still plying his trade in Serie A, that the man-mountain - who had developed himself a prestige as one of Europe’s most highly sought-after defenders during his three years in southern Italy - was viewed as the all-important figure in the pivotal stages of Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp’s quest of greatness at Anfield.
Having qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2014 thanks to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, the Reds were sketching plans for how to evolve a budding side back into one of Europe’s most feared.
After a season of Dejan Lovren, Ragnar Klavan, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez had restored the club’s place at the elite level of the game, Southampton captain Virgil van Dijk was deemed the man that would allow Liverpool to be taken seriously.
But as Michael Edwards, in his first summer transfer window as the club's sporting director, infuriated those on the South Coast with a behind-the-scenes pursuit of the Saints and Holland star, Anfield officials were left with no choice but to pull out of the race to sign Van Dijk after being reported to the Premier League.
“Liverpool Football Club would like to put on record our regret over recent media speculation regarding Southampton Football Club and player transfers between the two clubs,” read a Liverpool Football Club statement on June 7, 2017. “We apologise to the owner, board of directors and fans of Southampton for any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk.”
After Klopp’s most yearned-for target was completely off the table, the name of Koulibaly would persistently do the rounds on Merseyside as Liverpool were made to revise plans on how they would improve on the 42 goals they had shipped in the previous Premier League season - the most of any side to qualify for the Champions League - without the addition of Van Dijk.
With Chelsea and Manchester City also on the market for grand defensive reinforcements, Koulibaly was a name that continued to be mentioned as Napoli - who had just finished third in Serie A - once again caught the eye under the tutelage of Maurizio Sarri.
While the stock of Sarri, a former banker in the region of Tuscany, continued to heighten in his native Italy as he constructed the most exciting Gli Azzurri side in decades, which nearly ended their 27-year wait for a Serie A title, Naples would be the right place for Koulibaly to continue his trade.
“Important players can receive offers, said the defender’s agent, Bruno Satin, in the summer of 2017. “But at the moment he’s a Napoli player and they can also reject them.”
“Every day you can read about interested clubs, in terms of rumours you in Italy are top of the world. It’s nonsense, and you don’t only do it with Kalidou. There’s a healthy working relationship with Napoli.
“Chelsea and Liverpool? I always talk with these kind of clubs, but about all of my clients, not just Kalidou. I do my job, we’re in the transfer window.”
But despite tentative speculation linking the defender with a move to Anfield, Klopp would remain patient for the availability of Van Dijk to remerge in the upcoming January transfer window.
In the meantime, the end of the summer window and its reopening five months later would direct the German to some of his most joyless periods on Merseyside, as his side - despite the addition of Mohmed Salah - failed to get their Premier League campaign off to an adequate start due to their Achilles heel: defending.
A 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in October 2017, however, would prove to be the final straw for Klopp as he carried out the brutal - yet justified - act of withdrawing Lovren after just 30 minutes at White Hart Lane. The Croat, who had been unmistakably at fault for Spurs’ second goal of the game, found himself replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as Joe Gomez moved across to the heart of the defence.
"I really don't want to blame players,” Klopp said. “Dejan, to be honest, was not worse than Joel.
“We had to change something and we had to try to make sure we were a little bit more stabilised. We needed another protection in the half space - it actually didn't work too well, but that was the idea behind it.”
But while the Liverpool manager graciously tried to spare the blushes of his one-time cult hero, Liverpool’s immediate signing of Van Dijk for a club-record fee of £75m just eight weeks later communicated exactly how the German regarded the defensive options at his disposal for the first half of the campaign.
After all, Koulibaly was not the saviour Liverpool fans had hoped for in the summer of 2017 as he eventually remained at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium before making the move to Chelsea earlier this year. However his alternative, Van Dijk, hasn’t been too shabby since moving to Merseyside and has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup, in addition to finishing second in the 2019 Ballon d'Or rankings.
Without a doubt, Van Dijk has cemented his status as one of the game's all-time defensive greats.
Fast forward to the present day and Liverpool find themselves in a very similar predicament, but this time in midfield, with Klopp preferring to hold out for his favoured targets after missing out on the signature of Aurélien Tchouameni to Real Madrid last summer. Although there was a knee-jerk move for Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo after Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara's injuries in September, Liverpool have found themselves struggling in said department for most of the opening months of the Premier League season.
Even though the Reds are not the dire straights they once were in October 2017, the struggles they have endured in the centre of the park have verified that Klopp, assisted by the outgoing Julian Ward, will need to replicate a matching manoeuvre in the January transfer window if this season is to end with some hope of glory.
READ NEXT
- Virgil van Dijk speaks out on Liverpool takeover after FSG sale decision
- What Van Dijk did to four team-mates proves Marco van Basten wrong
- Saudi-Qatar partnership 'planning' to offer FSG £4bn to buy Liverpool
- Arsenal star Thomas Partey branded a 'traitor' after exchange with Luis Suarez
- Liverpool striker felt 'ignored' by Jurgen Klopp before regretting £32.5m transfer
