Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk feels his former Celtic teammate Kieran Tierney should be in no rush to leave Glasgow following impressive progress in recent seasons. The 20-year-old reached another milestone earlier this week as he was awarded the Scotland armband in the 1-0 friendly loss to Van Dijk's Netherlands.

Aside from his international exploits, Tierney is also closing in on his 100th appearance for his boyhood club with whom he signed a fresh six-year deal last month. Speaking to reporters, Van Dijk was delighted by the progress of the young left-back, who made his debut when the Dutchman was still at Park Head.

He said, “He's been doing very well and I think Celtic are very smart to tie him down for the next six years. It's good to see him as the captain as well. I can remember that day he made his debut at Dundee. Since then he has been progressing every game.”

Meanwhile, Van Dijk refused to speculate on how far Tierney, who impressed at centre-back versus Holland, can go in the game, he added, “I don't even know if he wants to go to the Premier League. Celtic is an amazing club for him as well and I don't think there is any rush for him to leave.”

Brendan Rodgers' side have managed to go 63 games unbeaten in their domestic competitions to date, and Van Dijk believes the Hoops' achievement is underrated by pundits, who consider the Scottish Premiership to be less competitive.

Van Dijk left Celtic for Southampton back in the summer of 2015, and he has since evolved into an influential player at the heart of the Saints defence. The Dutchman was desperate to seal his switch to Liverpool last summer, but the deal could not go through with the South Coast outfit lodging an official complaint against the Reds over an illegal approach.