Ronny Deila has revealed former Celtic centre-half Jason Denayer taught Virgil van Dijk how to defend properly during their Parkhead partnership.

The Dutchman and his Belgian partner at the heart of the Hoops' defence were a powerhouse pairing in 2014/15 season.

Van Dijk, now at Liverpool, is considered the best in the world.

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But back during his time in Glasgow, ex-boss Deila believes Denayer helped him improve at defending as the 24-year-old - who would go on to become Lyon captain - was "unbelievable" at the art.

"I think Jason was actually teaching Virgil how to defend," Deila told The Athletic.

"Denayer was fantastic. He was unbelievable at the basics of defending. 

"The two of them were quite close in training. 

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"Van Dijk was much more of a leader, so calm on the ball and could control the game, but those two together were incredible."

The pair also managed to bag themselves 15 goals between them that season.

Deila added: "They did score a lot of goals.

"But both were at their core really good defenders. 

"Though Van Dijk had that little extra, you knew he was destined for even bigger things, so above everybody else."