"Very good player" - Virgil van Dijk on Ibrahima Konate

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has praised teammate Ibrahima Konate.

The Reds signed the centre-back from RB Leipzig for a transfer fee of £36 million last summer.

Konate's first season at Anfield was certainly a success. The Frenchman averaged a WhoScored player rating of 6.89 across the 2021-22 Premier League campaign.

Konate also started for Liverpool in the Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris.

Therefore, Van Dijk's comments below regarding the 23-year-old are warranted.

As quoted by Anfield Watch's Twitter account, he told Liverpool FC's official website the following: "He’s a very, very good player. What I like the most about him is the will to learn each and every day as well.

"Obviously there are loads of things that can improve – and that’s good because he has time, he needs the experience. In my opinion, experience is a big thing for a centre-half to learn and to take with you.

"In his case, I’m very happy to see him develop, I’m very happy to see him shine on and off the pitch, he’s a fantastic character. But I can say that about (Joe Gomez and Joel Matip) as well. I am very blessed to have these players around me as well."

Anfield Watch Verdict

We completely agree with Van Dijk's take. Konate is an extremely talented player, but he still has room for improvement.

As we have already pointed out, the centre-back is only 23 years of age. Therefore, Konate is far from the finished article, which is obviously exciting.

If the Frenchman keeps his head down and works hard, who knows how good he could become. We are looking forward to watching Konate in action this season.

Hopefully he can take his game to another level.