Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool’s new-look central defence will take time to gel

Jacquet is set to start at Newcastle at the weekend and Van Dijk knows, for all their time on the training ground, it is only in matches they will be able to build a proper relationship.

Virgil van Dijk accepts it will take time to build a connection with new signings Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo after Liverpool’s central defence received a summer overhaul. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

Virgil van Dijk accepts it will take time to build a connection with new signings Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo after Liverpool’s central defence received a summer overhaul.

The departure of Ibrahima Konate after an indifferent season in which he played the majority of games alongside Van Dijk in their disappointing Premier League title defence and ongoing fitness issues with Joe Gomez and Giovani Leoni meant the club had to act to improve an area of weakness.