Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk is one to watch.
Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk scored for the under-23s on Monday against Millwall.
The young centre-back impressed last season in the team, and stood out in the pre-season games he played.
He’s a bright talent, and one who his teammates are even comparing to Virgil van Dijk.
This comes in relation to Struijk’s imposing physical stature, combined with his position and Dutch nationality.
In reply to his Instagram posts over the past fortnight, teammate Robbie Gotts has responded ‘Virg’, while the recently sold Clarke Oduor did the same.
Leeds fan account @lufcfanzone did the same, posting on Instagram, “Virgil van Dijk has posters of Pascal Struijk in his room, pass it on.”
Another poster referred to him as ‘Virgil van Struijk’.
It’s obviously high praise for the Leeds talent, who is just 20-years-old.
He needs to win over manager Marcelo Bielsa this season, and there could be an opportunity with Pontus Jansson sold this summer.
He will need injuries to break right for him, but as last season showed, there is a strong chance Leeds could need to turn to him over the course of the campaign.
Taking away the option of playing Kalvin Phillips out of position at centre-back, and Struijk could be as close as fourth choice behind Liam Cooper, loanee Ben White, and Gaetano Berardi.
Leeds signed Struijk from Ajax in January 2018. This was the same month Liverpool paid £75 million for Van Dijk.
The comparisons may be a bit tongue in cheek, but Struijk will want to show they are justified, if he gets a first team chance.
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