Liverpool teen Ki-Jana Hoever says Virgil van Dijk is making defending popular amongst young players.

Hoever, the Amsterdam-born 17-year-old who was given his debut by Jurgen Klopp as a substitute in the FA Cup defeat at Wolves in January, is watching Van Dijk's every move in a bid to learn the centre-back's art.

He told the Mirror: “Virgil is the best defender in the world – and I can say that with 100 percent certainty.

“He is so good that the great thing about Liverpool now is that it is not just the strikers and attackers in our team who get all the praise.

“They used to always get the credit, but something has changed.

“People now understand and see the importance of great defending.

“And it isn't just watching him play against the best forwards in the world that makes me admire him.

“When I play alongside him in training I see all the details, his hunger for perfection, the way he coaches me, his positioning and his little comments towards me.

“He seems to be right all the time. I wonder, at those moments, why I did not see that or why I was not in that position before.

“That, for me, is pure class."