Alessandro Bastoni IS the one to replace Virgil van Dijk

Alessandro Bastoni is going to replace Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool must pay attention.

Liverpool may well lose Virgil van Dijk this summer. As things stand, they'll certainly lose him as the Dutchman's contract expires at the end of June.

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He's been able to agree a pre-contract with a non-English side since January 1st. The fact Van Dijk hasn't done that is a sign that staying with Liverpool is at least something of a priority - as is the lack of any substantial links with another team.

But the entire situation thrusts Liverpool into a situation that was always coming. After all, Van Dijk will leave at some stage - we'd just all prefer for it to come a little later.

Whether it's this summer or next summer or the summer after that, though, Liverpool will need to replace their captain. And that feels impossible.

Van Dijk hasn't just been Liverpool's best defender since he arrived at Anfield - he's been the best in the world. There was maybe one year post-knee injury that you'd argue his form dropped but other than that, he's been untouchable.

That's obviously absolutely magnificent but it does also mean that when Van Dijk leaves or even drops his level, Liverpool get worse. There is no way to replace him fully, after all, as anyone that comes in will be a worse player.

All Liverpool can really do is replace Van Dijk with the next-best thing and that actually means signing the world's best defender. We think we know who that is.

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Alessandro Bastoni is him

Internazionale star Alessandro Bastoni has spent the last few years developing at a rapid pace. Now 25, Bastoni is on the level with the absolute elite at centre-back.

We're pretty convinced that he's the one to take Van Dijk's crown as the best centre-back around. If only because he's got that trait you want the world's best to have.

Much like Van Dijk, Bastoni doesn't make glaring errors. He's as assured as it gets and defenders know they're not getting anything from him.

Whoscored recently summed that quality up perfectly as they revealed that their database has Batoni committing just one error leading to a goal. That's not just this season, it's ever.

In 223 appearances, Bastoni has committed just one error leading to a goal. That's extraordinary and shows that level of consistency you associate with Van Dijk.

And that's to add with the other positives like Bastoni carrying the ball as well as any defender on the planet and boasting the most shot-creating actions over the last year of any centre-back in Europe.

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We're still convinced that Van Dijk will remain with Liverpool beyond this season but when it is time to replace him, the Reds will not find a better option than Bastoni. The Italian is the one who takes the captain's crown as the world's best - we're sure of it.