Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk’s quality has surprised Reds manager Arne Slot, who says the defender is on “another level”.

Van Dijk, 33, is in the last six months of his contract and made his 300th appearance for the Reds in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Ipswich Town.

During his eight years at Anfield, the Dutch centre-half has won the Premier League, Champions League, Club World Cup, Uefa Super Cup, the FA Cup and the League Cup twice.

His future at the club remains in doubt, but he has led Liverpool to the top of the Premier League, into the last 16 of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup this season.

“Everybody here in England would tell you that Virgil van Dijk is the best defender in the world,” said Slot, speaking to Gary Lineker in an interview for Football Focus.

“In Holland, he got a bit more criticism than he gets over here in England. I was, in a very positive way, surprised how good he was on the ball and how he could play football through the lines.

“From the first day I was like ‘wow, this is definitely another level that I’m used to’. But people in England were used to this.”

You can watch Lineker’s interview with Slot on Football Focus on Saturday at 12:00 GMT on BBC One as the pair discuss a wide range of topics, with Slot also challenging Lineker to a game of padel. It will also be on BBC iPlayer and online with a version on the Football Daily on BBC Sounds.

Slot, 46, became Liverpool manager last summer, replacing Jurgen Klopp, and the Reds currently sit six points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand.

Liverpool are also top of the Champions League table – and into the last 16 with a match to spare following seven successive victories – and play Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday in their final league-phase match.

Slot admitted the season was going even better than he had expected.

“You don’t think after 20 games we will have that many points and I wasn’t expecting us to be top with the margin we have,” he added.

“It’s always nice to be up there, but nobody would have expected this. I’m the last person who would have expected [reigning champions Manchester] City to have such a bad run.”

Slot signed a three-year contract with Liverpool last summer, and is already thinking how the club can improve.

He said: “Liverpool should always be competing for a league title, we should always be competing for the Champions League. I’m hoping I will be able to keep the club at that level.

“I know people sometimes question this because they haven’t seen us doing a lot in the transfer market in the summer and now in the winter as well. There’s a reason for that – because we’re happy with the squad.

“But I do know we’re definitely working on strengthening in the summer.”

During his playing days, Slot was a goalscoring attacking midfielder, twice winning promotion from the Dutch second division to the Eredivisie with FC Zwolle and also playing in the Uefa Cup with NAC Breda.

But a route into coaching was a natural progression for Slot, who managed Dutch sides Cambuur, AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord, where he won the league title, before moving to Liverpool.

“I don’t think anyone that played with me is surprised I’ve become a manager,” he added.

“It didn’t take long before I thought ‘I’m going to enjoy this for as long as I can and I definitely want to become a manager or a coach’.”

During his time in the Netherlands he would often show his players clips of Liverpool and how they performed, especially during their Premier League winning season of 2019-20.

So how do his playing skills compare to those of his current squad?

“It’s a bit hard to be in this office in Liverpool, all these players talking about my own playing career,” he laughed. “I always make the joke that I wasn’t that fast. Some people called me slow.

“Normally if you’re slow, you’re good and keep on running. But I wasn’t good at keeping on running either. But if I have to tell a quality I thought I did have it was the right timing [of pass], the right speed in the right direction.

“There has to be something to keep your head above water in the Eredivisie – I had a good knowledge of the game.”

One aspect that has been difficult for Slot is the fact his family are still in the Netherlands.

“That is hard,” he admitted. “The good thing is that it’s only an hour flight.

“The children go to school and are in their exams. But they’ve been here quite a lot, especially in the first half of the season when we’ve had a lot of international breaks.

“The most difficult period is for me now. After November until March, there is no break in England so that means it’s a bit harder as you don’t see them as much as you want to.

“This gives me a lot of time to prepare and do my work so maybe I’m a better coach now than when I was in Holland.”