Less than two weeks after Matthijs de Ligt hinted that he'd be open to a potential move to Anfield, Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk has kept up the charm offensive with the Dutch wonderkid.
The 19-year-old is the Reds defender's centre-back partner with the Netherlands national team and many Kopites would like to see the pair united on a more regular basis next season.
De Ligt is one of the hottest properties in European football and is on the radar of most of the continent's top clubs with Barcelona heavily tipped to win the race for his signature.
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However, the Ajax sensation admitted earlier this month that a possible switch to Jurgen Klopp's side remains in his thoughts, declaring: “Virgil is a player who has experience in the top leagues.
“Of course, you would want to learn from him. It’s very helpful playing alongside him in the Dutch team.
“It could happen (De Ligt joining him at Anfield). He plays for Liverpool , a good club, but I’m not focused on them.
“I focus on Ajax and then I’ll see where I end up.”
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The duo helped Ronald Koeman's side to a clean sheet in their opening European Championship qualifier, a 4-0 thrashing of Belarus in Rotterdam on Thursday – a match in which van Dijk netted the final goal – and with the squad now preparing to host bitter rivals Germany in Amsterdam on Sunday, it seems the feeling is mutual when it comes to the world's most expensive defender lauding his junior partner.
Van Dijk said of De Ligt: “He's obviously an excellent defender, that's clear.
“He can still improve a lot and he realises that, but playing like he does at that age is fantastic and I'm really happy to play besides him.”
Meanwhile, Netherlands national team captain van Dijk also paid tribute to the victims of a deadly shooting in the Dutch city of Utrecht earlier this week as he Tweeted a message showing the entire squad stood arm in arm, united in solidarity.
