Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly has lifted the lid on his relationship with Al-Hilal team-mate Salem Al-Dawsari, revealing how he handles him on the pitch and the story behind a tongue-in-cheek "death" threat he aimed at the winger during a match.
Koulibaly said of Salem Al-Dawsari on "The mo Show" podcast: "Salem is perhaps somewhat introverted, he doesn't want to show people his feelings, but I believe he is one of the best players in the history of Saudi Arabia."
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As he gets older, the defender explained, Salem now has to pay closer attention to his body. Yet the Saudi star still burns with ambition to achieve more in the years ahead.
One conversation stuck with Koulibaly. He asked Salem why he says so little, and the winger replied that he wants to make history, to top the Saudi national team's goalscoring charts and to become one of the best players on the Asian continent.
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"I will do everything to help him become the best Asian player, even if I sometimes have to pass him the ball when I'm not supposed to do so," Koulibaly added, spelling out his determination to help Salem hit those targets.
Then came the funny one. "Sometimes he doesn't defend. Okay, no problem, don't defend, but if you don't score, I'll kill you afterwards. Okay, score," Koulibaly recalled. And Salem duly did, netting just minutes after the words left his team-mate's mouth.
Koulibaly finished with Salem's reaction after the goal. The winger looked at him as if to say: "Talk again," a moment that captured the humour running through their bond at Al-Hilal.
