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Virgil van Dijk is "one of the few leaders there are still in the world of football", Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has told Sky Sports.

Van Dijk, who joined the Reds from Southampton for a then-world-record fee for a defender of £75m in January 2018, put pen-to-paper on a new two-year deal earlier this week, keeping him at Liverpool until the summer of 2027.

Liverpool's influential skipper will lead his side out away at Leicester on Sunday, live and exclusive on Sky Sports, as the Reds close in on their second Premier League title since Van Dijk's arrival at the club.

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Slot admits Van Dijk's new deal is the perfect tonic ahead of this weekend's trip to the King Power Stadium.

"Huge news for the club, for the fans, for our players and for our staff, [we're all] so pleased," Slot told Sky Sports pundit and former LIverpool defender Jamie Carragher.

"Everybody knows how good of a player he is when they see him playing during the weekend, and we also know how important he is.

FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Liverpool’s match against West Ham in the Premier League?

He's also smart, players respect him a lot, and he brings a lot of energy into training sessions.

Slot: Van Dijk so good on the ball

Slot added: "He knows what he says, he knows how to motivate his team-mates to get the best out of us every single day.

"And apart from that, when it comes to quality, I was surprised how incredibly good he is with bringing the ball out from the back

The first training session we did we were trying to get players free in between the lines, and he found them constantly.

"I knew how good of a player he was (before I arrived at Anfield), how important he was, but that he was that good on the ball was even a surprise to me."

Watch Leicester City vs Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm this Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm
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