Virgil van Dijk shows true colors with honest assessment of Arsenal star William Saliba

Liverpool and Arsenal played out a 2-2 draw in their recent encounter at the Emirates, not necessarily what would have been expected from two of the defenses who have received the most praise. Taking the lion's share of those plaudits are Virgil van Dijk and William Saliba, and the Reds captain has been discussing his Gunners counterpart.

Saliba was absent through suspension for that game against Liverpool, which will have come as a boost to Arne Slot. While scorers Mohamed Salah and indeed Van Dijk himself would no doubt back themselves to find a way past any defense, it's not controversial to say that the Frenchman has earned a reputation as one of the best in the Premier League.

In fact, the highest compliment you can pay to Saliba is that he looks like the most natural successor to Van Dijk out there at the moment. He has a similar burgeoning aura of authority, with that enviable combination of pace and physicality.

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Sure enough, Van Dijk has been impressed with Saliba. He revealed as much in a recent appearance on Rio Ferdinand's podcast.

"Obviously, Saliba is making very good steps at the moment," Van Dijk said. "Yeah, he’s on the first one I just have in mind now.

"You know, he’s a solid one. You know, I think in possession he’s doing a good job."

Van Dijk also acknowledged the similarities between himself and Saliba. When prompted by Ferdinand, he actually revealed that Saliba is further along than he was at the same age:

"Yeah, maybe [he's similar]," Van Dijk mused. "You know, I think if I’m honest, when I was that age, I was nowhere near where he was today.

"And obviously that’s the beauty of football as well. You know, I like to watch other defenders and pick up so many stuff from them. There are so many good ball-players."

This isn't exactly a bombshell admission from Van Dijk. Famously something of a late bloomer, he was only just getting settled in at Celtic at Saliba's age.

Still, it underlines just how impressive it is that Saliba has developed so much already. Center-backs traditionally take longer to hone their craft, but he already looks at home in conversations with Van Dijk about the very best around.

But the Arsenal man will not be getting ahead of himself. He has repeatedly paid homage to Van Dijk, recognizing the Liverpool defender as the gold standard.

Funnily enough, in the summer, Saliba ranked Van Dijk ahead of none other than Ferdinand. He also placed the Dutchman ahead of himself.

On another occasion, Saliba hailed Van Dijk as "the boss". Clearly, the respect is mutual between two world-class performers.

Liverpool.com says: Game recognizes game, as the kids are saying. There's no doubt that Van Dijk and Saliba are the top two center-backs in the division, and among the very best in the world.

Arsenal is lucky to have such a player with so many of his peak years still ahead of him. But even at 33, Van Dijk is showing no signs of slowing down yet, something Liverpool must note in its contract deliberations.