LIVERPOOL -- Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool will see the best of Virgil van Dijk from next season and insists he has no concerns about the defender's condition despite recent comments from Jamie Carragher.
Van Dijk, a £75 million signing from Southampton in January, was left out of Liverpool's win over Huddersfield Town in midweek for physical reasons, according to Klopp.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has said the Netherlands international "looks too big" and could do with losing "a bit of weight."
However, Klopp disagreed with Carragher's assessment and feels Van Dijk is still working his way back up to full fitness after damaging ligaments in his foot at Southampton last season.
"I'm sure Jamie needs to lose a little bit of weight, but for Virgil, that's not the case," Klopp told a news conference. "He's a big and a tall lad.
"We have the best nutrition department and nobody came to me and said this. It's not an issue at all."
Van Dijk has made three appearances for Liverpool since his January move, winning one game and losing the other two.
Klopp added: "[I'm] very happy with his progress. It's as we expected it to be, with a few ups and downs.
"We will all see Virgil van Dijk at his best after the summer. But we don't have the time to wait till then, why should we? He can bring a lot of things in already, so it's all good.
"We've had quite a few talks already, but the defending style is different to Southampton and Holland so it makes sense that you get use to it.
"For example, Everton was outstanding, City he couldn't play, defensively we were really good against Swansea. He was involved in the three biggest chances we had so that was good as well.
"West Brom was a bad game of the entire team then we thought it makes sense to rotate. The moment it's like we expected. It's completely normal. There's a lot to work on, a lot to do but the start has been all good."
Klopp was speaking to the media at Melwood on Friday afternoon to preview Liverpool's match with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool, who lie third in the Premier League table, sit two points clear of fifth-placed Spurs, with Klopp believing the weekend's Anfield encounter is a six-pointer.
The last time the two sides met was at Wembley back in October when a 4-1 loss for Liverpool kick-started an 18-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
"The Tottenham game at Wembley was a used day. It was just not a good game. They had a good start, a good middle and a good finish to the game. That's why they won the game," Klopp said.
"But that has absolutely nothing to do with the next game. But the situation in the table, our targets and what we want to do and where we want to finish the season, it's clear that it's a very important game.
"These are these kind of six-point games. I'm not sure if you use that phrase in England, but it is one of these. The only advantage that one team can have in this situation is to play at home. I'm looking forward to it. They are in a good moment, but our moment is not too bad as well. It will be interesting."
Meanwhile, Nathaniel Clyne has been included in Liverpool's squad for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Clyne has not featured at all this season due to a back injury and has not returned to full training yet, but the right-back is edging closer to a return.
"[He] is still not in team training but he is as close [as he has been] since the summer," Klopp said.
"He's on a really good way, close to being back in team training but, how you can imagine, when you are that long out then it will probably take quite a while to be ready to play.
"I think we need to at least go one round further so that Clyney can be involved, there's no chance for him in the next round against Porto. So I hope he will make an impact."