Ki-Jana Hoever has paid tribute to former Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk.
Hoever left the Reds to join Wolverhampton Wanderers in a £13.5 million deal last summer, in search of first-team football.
The 19-year-old became Liverpool’s third-youngest debutant of all time two years ago when he faced Wolves in an FA Cup game.
But with Jurgen Klopp boasting a lot of centre-back options, the Dutchman elected to leave and although he has only managed nine Premier League games for the Molineux club this season, it’s nine more appearances he made in this competition under the German manager.
At 19, Hoever is still learning the game, but the young Dutchman claims that he had a superb mentor in the form of his compatriot, who is one of the game’s finest central defenders, and revealed that he still feels comfortable enough to contact Van Dijk to ask his help on certain things.
He told Goal.com: “He was really good to me. And still if I need anything, I can give him a call or a text and he will help me. Virgil is a really nice guy.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, if you are next to him he will make you look really good at defending! When I trained with him, he would speak with me in Dutch and he coached me, where to be, when to drop, when to step up. He took responsibility. I just had to listen!”
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