Jurgen Klopp is encouraged by videos of Virgil van Dijk training in the gym but warned the commanding Liverpool centre-back still has a long road to recovery ahead of him.
Netherlands international Van Dijk suffered a serious knee injury during the 2-2 draw against Everton in October s Merseyside derby, as a result of a robust challenge from Jordan Pickford.
Van Dijk is likely to miss the rest of the season while his status for the delayed Euro 2020 remains unclear.
This week, Reds fans would have been boosted by the sight of Van Dijk s workouts in Dubai – where Netherlands great Clarence Seedorf dropped in to work with the defender.
Klopp too is happy to see the progress being made but also ushered a cautious tone.
Good, very good I have no problem talking about Virgil van Dijk, Klopp said when previewing Monday s Premier League clash against Van Dijk s former club Southampton.
It s very good but still a long way to go that s [the deal with] this kind of injury. I m happy when I see these videos because it just shows he makes good progress but it will still take a lot of time that s how it is.
I d like to say something else but these are the facts unfortunately.