Frank de Boer hopes Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk will be available for the Netherlands at Euro 2021 next summer.
Holland face Ukraine on June 13 in their opening game of the tournament and head coach De Boer believes Van Dijk could be available for his country, so long as he suffers no setbacks.
Van Dijk ruptured his ACL against Everton back in October after a reckless challenge from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and was left needing surgery.
This week, the world-class centre-back has been seen kicking a ball and carrying out recovery sessions at the NAS training complex out in Dubai with AC Milan legend Clarence Seedorf.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp also explained on Friday that Van Dijk was making "good progress" in his recovery but there was still a long way to go.
Liverpool will not rush Van Dijk back to action but will be hopeful his recovery continues at a healthy rate so they are able to consider him for selection towards the end of the season - with the Dutchman beating his expected injury lay-off.
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And De Boer believes, after a FaceTime conversation with his captain, that the centre-half will be fit in time for the Euros.
“He is busy with so much energy,” the Netherlands manager told De Telegraaf via Sport Witness.
“If you see what he’s doing…in my time you were only allowed to kick in the swimming pool [at this point in his recovery].
“If Virgil doesn’t get a kickback and things go a little faster than expected, he should be able to make it to the European Championship opening match on June 13 against Ukraine.
“He is very important for our team, on and off the field.”
