Fans overhear Jurgen Klopp call Liverpool academy star ‘Virgil van Dijk 2.0 reloaded’ in training video

One Liverpool academy star has earned seriously high praise from Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool head to Manchester City to resume their Premier League season on Saturday, with Klopp's side looking to leapfrog their opponents to go top of the league, live on talkSPORT,

Before the fixture, Klopp spoke to Sky Sports reporter Vinny O'Connor and the pair's catch up was posted onto X, formerly known as Twitter.

The duo were heard praising Harvey Elliott and Tyler Morton's performances for England's Under-21s in their Euro 2025 qualifier over the international break, with them both scoring against Northern Ireland.

But it was defender Jarell Quansah, who also played in that game, that appeared to get the ultimate compliment from the Liverpool boss.

Reds supporters are convinced they heard Klopp say Quansah was the 'reloaded 2.0' version of iconic centre-back Virgil van Dijk in the video.

Quansah, 20, only made his first team debut this season.

The Warrington-born centre-back has been with the Reds since 2008 when he joined at the age of 5.

After rising through the youth ranks and making it onto the bench in the first team's Premier League and Carabao Cup ties, Quansah was sent out on loan to Bristol Rovers in January this year.

The England international made 16 appearances for the League One side, with then-Rovers manager Joey Barton tipping him to go to the very top.

“He’s as good on the ball that you’ll need to be in terms of building out from the back," he told Bristol Live in February. "He’s going to get bigger, he’s going to get stronger, he’s going to get faster. His anticipation of the game is going to be better because more senior games get you that."

Barton added: "He has an enormous future in front of him."

He's since made nine appearances for Liverpool's first team following the end of that loan, including two starts in the Europa League.

Considering Quansah has only just made his way into the Liverpool first team, to be compared to a Champions League and Premier League winner by one of the best managers in the world shows he must be doing something right!