Virgil van Dijk has lavished praise on Spanish prodigy Pau Cubarsi, a player Chelsea nearly signed. Widely considered one of the best centre-backs of his generation, the Dutchman appears to believe the Barcelona youngster has the potential to follow in his footsteps. Speaking after the Netherlands' 2-2 draw with Spain on Thursday, Van Dijk labelled 18-year-old Cubarsi "a huge talent" and a joy to watch. "He is a special player," the Liverpool captain beamed. "To be playing at this level at just 18, as you said, is already impressive... He is outstanding. It's good to watch him play. "It's not the typical Barcelona style because Pau also likes to play long passes - a lot - and he's good at it. That's something I also enjoy doing... He is a great talent and we are witnessing a player with a brilliant future." Cubarsi only turned 18 in January, yet already has 66 senior appearances for Barcelona under his belt. He's been a mainstay in Hansi Flick's side all season and has been a regular for Spain over the past few months, too. Naturally, his form has attracted a few covetous glances from around Europe, and for some clubs, like Chelsea, interest in Cubarsi is longstanding. In fact, the Blues tried to negotiate an ambitious swap deal for the player, with Ian Maatsen - now at Aston Villa - moving in the other direction back in 2023, when Cubarsi was just 16. An agreement was never reached, but Chelsea pushed for the defender again in 2024, shortly after he made his La Liga debut. At the time, there were reports of an £8.5million release clause in Cubarsi's contract, but Barcelona hastily tied him down to a new bumper deal - one with a £419m release clause to stave off suitors. Chelsea's interest in Cubarsi came as no surprise. Since Todd Boehly's BlueCo consortium took over in 2022, the club have been focusing on signing elite young talent - with the likes of Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo proving particularly successful captures. Other highly-rated attacking prospects, such as Estevao Willian , Kendry Paez, and Geovany Quenda , have also committed to joining Chelsea. Widely regarded as some of the most exciting young talents in world football, they are set to arrive at Stamford Bridge within the next year or so. Chelsea have also tapped into Barcelona's talent pool, signing young forward Marc Guiu in a £4million deal last summer. Both Guiu and Cubarsi are products of the club's famed La Masia academy, which has produced modern legends like Lionel Messi , Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, as well as rising stars Lamine Yamal, Gavi, and Pedri. Cubarsi, who joined Barcelona from Girona as an 11-year-old in 2018, started the first leg of Spain's Nations League quarter-final clash with the Netherlands, which ended 2-2, on Thursday, but limped off with an injury midway through the first half. The second leg, which took place on Sunday, ended 3-3 after extra time, with Spain eventually clinching victory on penalties. They'll face France in the last four in June, and whoever wins will play either Germany or Portugal in the final. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.