Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has admitted he admires Arsenal defender William Saliba, stating that he has improved significantly over the years.

The Dutch centre-back has maintained an impressive standard throughout his nine years in the Premier League, and Rio Ferdinand’s podcast discusses the most promising young defenders, with Van Dijk praising the French youngster from Arsenal.

“William Saliba is in a very good developmental stage. He was the first person I thought of. He’s very good and he’s doing a good job. ทางเข้า ufabet At his age I wasn’t anywhere near where he is now. That’s the beauty of football. “

Van Dijk also admitted Saliba is playing at a higher level than he was at the same stage of his career.

The Dutchman, who is a decade older than Saliba, had been playing for Celtic when he was 23.

He later moved to Southampton, before completing a £75million move to Liverpool in 2018 and underlining his status as one of the best defenders in the world.

‘I think, if I’m honest, when I was that age, I was nowhere near where he was today,’ Van Dijk said. 

‘Obviously, that’s the beauty of football as well, I like to watch other defenders and pick up so many stuff from them.

I like to watch defenders play and learn from their methods and apply them to my own game. No matter how old you are you can still learn,” Van Dijk said.