Virgil van Dijk believes ‘everyone at Liverpool’ should appreciate teammate Ibrahima Konate after an incredible performance. The Frenchman was magnificent against Manchester City.
Liverpool are into the FA Cup final – their first in a decade. Jurgen Klopp hadn’t actually made it past the fifth round before but now he’s one win away from adding yet another new medal to his collection.
It was a chaotic game at Wembley as Liverpool raced into a 3-0 lead before halftime. Things turned completely in the second, however, as Manchester City found two goals. It was a far nervier finish than it should have been, in all truth.
But there were certainly plenty of reasons to celebrate here. Liverpool had the stars on show, with Sadio Mané grabbing headlines as he bagged two goals.
The opener, though, came from Ibrahima Konate as he thundered a header past Zack Steffan for 1-0. That’s his third goal in as many games – all from set-pieces. The Frenchman is on fire and that’s just how goalscoring.
Virgil van Dijk is impressed with his teammate, to say the least. He wants everyone at Liverpool ‘to appreciate’ what they have in the 22-year-old.
Virgil van Dijk on Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate
“He’s made a great impact, working hard every day, good mentality, work rate – incredible,” he told BBC Sport. “Obviously, he needs to perform when he’s called upon and I think he’s doing just that.
“He’s still so young and it’s incredible how good he already is. Everyone at Liverpool should appreciate what we’ve got and yeah, the future is bright.”
Liverpool have someone very, very special in Konate. Honestly, he looks like the one who can replace Van Dijk in the coming years – and finding a player who can do that was a big worry for us.
But the Reds struck gold in signing Konate from RB Leipzig last summer. They picked up one of the best young defenders in the world – at both ends of the pitch.
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