'No one is better': Ibrahima Konate names the Liverpool ace who's easily the best in the world in his position

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Ibrahima Konate is having yet another terrific season in a Liverpool shirt.

Arne Slot will be delighted with how well the Frenchman has performed this season, as his partnership with Virgil van Dijk has been a fundamental reason behind the Reds’ success up until now.

This season, Liverpool have conceded the least goals in the Premier League (20) — which goes to show how excellent Konate and Van Dijk have been as a pair.

Konate impressed Arne Slot from early on and if the Dutchman manages to win the league title in his debut season, the solidity provided by the 25-year-old will be fondly remembered by the Kop for years.

Slot praised Konate’s display against Brentford as well as his importance to this Liverpool side cannot be overstated.

Ahead of Liverpool’s upcoming contest against Lille, the former RB Leipzig defender was asked plenty of interesting questions during the pre-match press conference.

Ibrahima Konate says Virgil van Dijk is the best centre-back in the world

One of the questions Ibrahima Konate was asked about was whether his partnership with Virgil van Dijk is the best in Europe.

There have been several other incredible centre-back pairings on display this season such as between William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes at Arsenal as well as Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez at Barcelona.

But Konate said via BeanymanSports that him and Van Dijk have been the best of the best as a duo this campaign.

“This season, yeah, I think so.”

Konate also went on to add that in his view, Van Dijk is the best centre-back in the world.

“Virgil, everybody knows Virgil, everybody knows his quality, for me, he’s the best, no one is better than him in this position.”

“For me, I learned a lot from him, from other players like [Joel] Matip, Joe Gomez and the other players who don’t play in my position as well.”

Van Dijk is considered the world’s best defender and even at 33, it looks like he has a number of years left in the tank at the elite level.

Didier Drogba lauded Van Dijk as the standout centre-back in world football as well, which goes to show the status he has accrued from legends of the game as well.

Ibrahima Konate admits he wants to become better than Virgil van Dijk

However, all the admiration that comes the Dutch skipper’s way is well deserved, even from current Premier League stalwarts such as Martin Odegaard.

Odegaard named Van Dijk as his toughest opponent as he continues to domineer over opponents.

William Saliba sang Van Dijk’s praises as well as the Arsenal colossus believes he is the greatest defender in Premier League history.

During his latest press conference, Konate admitted that his dream is to become a better defender than the former Celtic centre-half one day.

“I never said to him but in interviews, I say always, I just want to be better than him one day and that’s why I work hard to reach this level one day.”

Konate was quizzed how Van Dijk would react upon hearing his admission.

The highly-rated defender replied: “He will be proud I think!”

Arne Slot will admire Konate’s hunger to become better, who will especially be important in their next five league games such as Ipswich Town, AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Wolves and Manchester City.

As long as the Liverpool centre-back keeps learning from Van Dijk, he is bound to improve regardless.