Jamie Carragher Names the Premier League Defender Who Can Pass as Well as Virgil van Dijk

Jamie Carragher has claimed Wolves defender Conor Coady has a similar quality of passing to Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk.

While the Dutchman is viewed by many as the world's leading centre-back, Coady had to earn his place in the Premier League in a more roundabout way.

Leaving Liverpool in 2014 after making just two appearances for the first team, the former England Under-20 international joined Huddersfield before ending up at Wolves.

He has since become a key part of Nuno Espirito Santo's system at Molineux, sitting at the back alongside Willy Boly and Wolves' other revolving centre backs, impressing as the Wanderers qualified for the Europa League during the 2018/19 season.

Revealing his Premier League team of the season via Sky Sports, Carragher picked an all-Liverpool defence but took the chance to praise Coady.

He wrote: "The only decision I had really was who was going to partner Virgil van Dijk. I thought about Jonny Evans in that position and Harry Maguire has had a really good season.

"I'm a big fan of Caglar Soyuncu in that he just makes me smile when I see him play for Leicester. Conor Coady has also done brilliantly for Wolves; he has not missed a minute this season and is probably as good as anyone alongside Van Dijk in terms of passing from the back."

Whether Liverpool regret their decision to let Coady go is another thing altogether.

While central defence was an issue during Brendan Rodgers' final throws and Jurgen Klopp's early reign, the Reds are now well stocked at centre back with Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren all capable of filling in alongside Van Dijk - though fans would probably prefer to see Lovren on the bench at most off the back of his performance in the 3-0 loss at Watford.

Source : 90min