Virgil Van Dijk Is a “Complete Centre-Back”, Says Joel Matip

Star Belgian centre-back Joel Matip spoke to Liverpool FC magazine about the return of Virgil Van Dijk and the arrival of Ibrahima Konate to the club’s defensive lineup.

“It has been great for me to play alongside Virgil again. It was a long time for him to be out and I am really happy to see him back on the pitch.

“He’s the complete centre-back. He is calm with the ball and great against the ball. He is a leader when we are playing and we missed him, but now he is back and that is good for us.”

And while Van Dijk was recovering from his season-ending injury of 2020, the club signed French centre-back Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig this year. Although he is yet to feature at length in games, he has shown promise.

“Ibou is settling in really good. It always takes some time to settle in general and in the defence to get a good connection”, said Matip.

“It needs time before I know how he will react and he will know how I react. We have trained a lot together and it will always need some time next to a new player, but he is already going really well.”