Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes that Virgil Van Dijk can inspire the next generation of players coming through at the club.

Since arriving at the Reds, Van Dijk has come on leaps and bounds.

He has not only emerged as their best defender, but the de facto leader on the pitch.

And Klopp believes that Van Dijk is a true inspiration to any young player who wants to make it in the game.

Speaking about Van Dijk, Klopp said to the Liverpool Echo: "He's been very good.

"Look, the nice thing about his career is that he was not 16 years old and everyone saw he would be a world-class player.

"And it shows, to not just him, but everyone out there, you need talent - because he obviously had talent - but it is not about the judgement other people make about you when you are 16, 17, 18. It is always about what you make of it.

"Life is like this, we all have a situation, these are different but you have to make the best of it. That is the job in life and I'm really happy for him that he could show all these doubters in his past that they were wrong."