Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk says it is 'crazy' for Ibrahima Konate to be so good at such a young age.
The 22-year-old partnered the Dutchman in the heart of the defence as the Reds beat Villarreal 2-0 on Wednesday night. They'll look to book themselves a spot in next month's final when they travel to El Madrigal next week.
Jurgen Klopp has rotated between Konate and Joel Matip this season, the Frenchman only signed for Liverpool last summer in a deal worth £36m and has already made 23 appearances in all competitions. With three goals this month, it's been an impressive start to life at Anfield for Konate.
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Van Dijk has praised the young defender's consistency and outlined what he needs to do to improve even further. “(Konate) is a fantastic player,” he told LFC TV. “To be that good already at such an age, it’s crazy, in my opinion.
“Obviously he still has loads to learn and, in my opinion, as a centre-back I think it comes with experience, dealing with situations, dealing with mistakes, dealing with moments that you fail (in) maybe to make sure it doesn’t happen anymore.
“But he is already at such a high level and such consistency as well. So, it’s great to have each other and push each other each and every day. Joel obviously an incredible season as well, so let’s keep that going.”
Liverpool opened the scoring against Villarreal early in the second half as Jordan Henderson's cross was deflected into the back of the net off defender Pervis Estupinan. Sadio Mane then doubled their lead just minutes later after a well worked move involving Mohamed Salah.
Van Dijk spoke on the form of Liverpool's forwards, and said: “They are so important for us at the moment. I don’t want to be facing any of our strikers, to be fair. Diogo from the bench, Luis, Mo, Sadio, it’s incredible, Divock the last game.
"We are in a good moment, everyone is pushing each other and we’ll try to keep that going, and the amount of work they put in is incredible as well.”
