Ibrahima konate is being pushed by virgil van dijk to improve on his impressive form against arsenal, claiming that the liverpool defender has all the tools to become the world’s best centre-back. In saturday’s 1-1 draw with the gunners, konate starred alongside van dijk, refusing to give gabriel jesus an inch all game before looking just as good as his replacement, eddie nketiah. With joel matip’s career in jeopardy at anfield in the balance due to his season-ending knee injury and the fact that the 32-year-old is now in the final months of his contract with the club, konate has a great chance to cement himself as van dijk’s regular partner for the remainder of the campaign and beyond. After matip’s acl rupture, jurgen klopp’s back was relieved by jarell quansah’s appearance and joe gomez’s impressive form, and van dijk believes konate, 24, is even better than he was at the same age.
Van dijk said ahead of his trip to burnley on boxing day, he’s still growing.” “he’s a great defender.” He has all that a modern-day footballer needs to have at the top of center-backs. We have a lot of questions. We play with the ball, keep a high line, you need the speed and have a lot of space to defend in behind. He needs to find his speed and direction. He’s doing it right. “it’s about getting used to playing every three days, taking care of your body, playing games and conditioning sessions, and knowing when to do certain things. “he is learning.” “he is preparing.” Because it’s my job to share my experiences with him, i talk a lot with him about certain topics. He’s still learning, and he’s going to be even better than he is.
