Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Virgil Van Dijk may have to wait to make his debut for the club.
Van Dijk completed a world-record £75m move to Liverpool on Monday, joining from Premier League side Southampton.
The Dutchman is now the most expensive defender in the history of world football.
However, Klopp says that he will wait for Van Dijk to be ready to make his debut, rather than throwing him in at the deep end.
When asked whether Van Dijk will make his debut in the FA Cup next week against Everton, Klopp said he was not sure.
Speaking to Four Four Two, Klopp said this:
We made a few tests that make sense only for him and for us, to see where he stands. That’s all. There is no rush.
He is on fire and he really wants it, that’s all good, but we have to make sure he can perform.
Centre-half is a position which depends on all the others on the pitch. There are a few challenges you have to solve by yourself, all the rest is always together. That means you have to tune it so it works really together.
We need time. A pre-season is for that usually but we don’t have a pre-season. Everything will be fine.
After the Everton game we have a little bit more time, that will help, but it’s a long-term project – so it’s not important when he makes his first game, it’s important how many good games he will play for Liverpool. That’s what I’m interested in.
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