Virgil van Dijk immediately namechecks William Saliba in interview: 'Nowhere near'

Liverpool captain has praised , admitting the star reminds him of himself.

Van Dijk is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the , having won a host of trophies during his time at Anfield including the , the and the .

Saliba, meanwhile, has developed into a top centre-back at Arsenal and Van Dijk has hailed the Frenchman in an appearance on the . When asked which defender has impressed him the most in recent year, Van Dijk told Ferdinand: "Obviously, Saliba's making very good steps at the moment.

"He's the first one I just have in mind now. He's a solid one. I think in possession, he's doing a good job." Ferdinand then asked if Saliba reminds Van Dijk of himself and the Dutchman replied: "Yeah, maybe.

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"I think, if I'm honest, when I was that age, I was nowhere near where he was today. Obviously, that's the beauty of football as well. I like to watch other defenders and pick up so many stuff from them.

"There are so many good ballplayers and centre-halves. Because when you watch the game, I definitely watch games, especially on the highest level, you can always pick up certain things.

"But I also have in mind that teams are defending in a different way than we are defending, so you have to keep that in mind too. I think, especially in ball possession, the way you position yourself, because obviously we are a team that has the ball a lot.

"And I play on the left side as a right footer, centre-half, obviously for many years. Sometimes it's good to pick up the positioning of certain players and what they do. I feel like, at any age, you can keep learning and I definitely still do that."

Van Dijk's long-term future remains up in the air, with the 33-year-old's contract due to expire at the end of the season. He is currently , though, stating earlier this month: "I can say obviously discussions are ongoing, but I don't know, we will see what happens in the future.

"My very full focus is on , wanting to win games that are ahead of me and nothing else. What the future will bring I have no idea at the moment. I can only tell you that discussions have been started up and we will see."

Listen to the full Rio Meets Virgil interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, presented by Qatar Airways.

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