Virgil van Dijk names his best Liverpool team-mate and it's NOT Mo Salah

Virgil van Dijk has revealed his best-ever team-mate at Liverpool, with the Reds captain hailing the former player as 'outstanding'.

The Liverpool captain has been pivotal to the club's success since joining from Southampton in a £75m transfer seven-years ago and has been a concrete figure in Jurgen Klopp's reign.

Helping lead the Reds to a first Premier League title, a Champions League crown and several other domestic honours during his time at the club, Van Dijk has earned legendary status at Anfield.

Now he is on the verge of captaining Liverpool to the Premier League title, with Thursday's 3-1 win over Sheffield United giving the Reds a two-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table.

Van Dijk has played alongside the likes of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson, but has picked a former forward as his favourite Liverpool colleague.

Speaking on The Rest of Football podcast, the 32-year-old told hosts Gary Lineker and Micah Richards the former Reds goalscorer.

'I don't wanna put other players down but let me speak about players that for example left,' said Van Dijk.

'Bobby Firmino has been a big figure in the success that we had over the last years, he kept especially those two next to him, who are outstanding, he kept them together.

'The triangle they were, the way they worked together. For me personally, the defensive work they did, to make it easier for us at the back, it's been crazy, it's been outstanding.

'He has been so far and difficult to defend in training so I would give credit to him,' he added.

Keen to not downplay the accomplishments of his current team-mates, Van Dijk heaped further praise on Liverpool's current squad who have already won the Carabao Cup this season.

He continued: 'But at the