Chris Sutton comments on Celtic’s Kristoffer Ajer and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk

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Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk played well during his time at Celtic.

Chris Sutton has suggested on BT Sport that Celtic central defender Kristoffer Ajer is not as good as Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk.

Van Dijk is one of the best central defenders in the Premier League and is a key figure in the current Liverpool team.

The Netherlands international was on the books of Celtic from 2013 until 2015, and his performances for the Glasgow giants in those two years earned him the move to Southampton in the Premier League in the summer of 2015.

Ajer is developing into a very good central defender for Celtic, and the 20-year-old Norway international has been playing well for the Hoops in recent weeks.

According to WhoScored, the youngster has made 17 starts and five substitute appearances in the Scottish Premiership for Celtic so far this season.

Former Celtic striker Sutton has praised Ajer and has hailed his performance against Rangers in the Old Firm derby last weekend, but the BBC Sport and BT Sport pundit does not think that he is as good as Van Dijk.

Sutton said on BT Sport when asked if Ajer could be as good or better than Van Dijk: “No. I like him, and I thought he performed very well against Rangers. I just don’t want to get ahead of myself on Kristoffer Ajer.

“He is a young, confident player. I like him on the ball, and when he steps in, I think he is very good, but there’s still work to be done.

“He needs to be consistent over a longer period of time. I think the recent signs have been encouraging.”