Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City’s Nathan Aké and Ajax’s Jurriën Timber are likely to be the three centre-backs to star for the Netherlands at the Qatar World Cup.
Louis van Gaal has favoured Timber ahead of Inter Milan’s Stefan de Vrij and Bayern Munich summer signing Matthijs de Ligt in his recent starting lineup. The latter two were left on the bench in Oranje’s 2-0 win over Poland.
De Vrij replaced Timber in the second half in the Netherlands’ 1-0 win over Belgium. The Ajax player has received praise from both the Liverpool defender and Pep Guardiola’s man.
On the 21-year-old’s fine displays, the Reds centre-back said, relayed by Soccernews: “When I was his age, I was not nearly as far as he is now. I have only praise for him. Jurriën is a great player and a real professional.
“He still has so much potential. Hopefully he can continue to show it and develop well. Then everything will be fine.”
Erik ten Hag was keen on signing the Ajax defender for Manchester United in the summer, but he turned them down. Timber has admitted he wants to change clubs next year and the Red Devils are still said to be interested in him.
The Dutchman’s suitors are growing as Bayern Munich and AS Roma are added to the list. With Van Dijk praising Timber, maybe Liverpool should keep an eye on his performances for the Eredivisie winners so that the young defender can be a target for the Reds.
