Could Willian Pacho be Virgil van Dijk's long-term successor at Anfield? Why Liverpool are linked with Eintracht Frankfurt's Ecuadorian defender

Pacho was born and raised in Quininde, a town in the northern Esmeraldas province of Ecuador, but it was in the capital city of Quito that he began to make a name for himself.

Pacho made his professional debut with Independiente del Valle, where, coincidentally, Hincapie also starred as a youngster. He was part of an exciting young side that claimed the club's first-ever Ecuadorian Serie A title in 2021, with Pacho playing every minute of the regular season campaign, only to miss the championship-deciding play-off with Emelec through injury.

Despite that disappointment, the classy teenage defender with just 40 senior-level appearances had already done enough to attract the attention of European scouts.

During the 2022 January transfer window, Pacho was snapped up by Royal Antwerp, who had such faith in the youngster that they handed the €5.5m (£4.7m/$6m) signing a five-year contract. Pacho initially saw little game time at the Bosuilstadion, but everything changed when Brian Priske was replaced as coach by former Bayern Munich, Barcelona, AC Milan and Netherlands midfielder Mark van Bommel.

The rapidly-improving Pacho became a regular under the Dutchman and formed a fantastic central-defensive partnership with club captain Toby Alderweireld that provided the foundation for last season's dramatic Belgian title triumph. By that stage, Pacho had already earned his first cap for Ecuador - and, even more significantly, agreed to join Eintracht Frankfurt during the summer of 2023.

"It has been a great year with Royal Antwerp," he said at the time. "I thank the club and my team-mates for the trust given, the love, respect, and learning. Especially to Mark Van Bommel and Toby Alderweireld for every advice given, which helped me a lot to improve.

"I said goodbye very happy to have been part of this great club, to have achieved many victories together, and to end this season becoming champions."

Tellingly, Van Bommel was bitterly disappointed by Pacho's departure. "He has evolved enormously with Toby Alderweireld at his side," the Antwerp boss told Het Laatste Nieuws. "I think we've sold him too soon."

Certainly, Antwerp's loss has proven to be Eintracht's considerable gain. At €9m (£7.7m/$9.7m), he represented their record purchase for a defender - but board member for sport Markus Krosche was supremely confident that the South American would prove money well spent.

"It's an important transfer for us for the coming season," he said after the deal was confirmed. "Willian is still young, but he already has experience on the international stage. We're pleased that he's decided to join Eintracht and we'd like to further develop his huge potential."

They've certainly done that. Indeed, Eintracht reportedly now value Pacho at roughly six times his original fee - and it's easy to understand why. He played every minute of all but one game as Eintracht qualified for the Europa League via a sixth-placed finish in the Bundesliga, impressing all and sundry with his pace, progressive passing and aerial ability.

As Krosche has previously stated, "What really makes Willian stand out are his speed and strength in the tackle." The jet-heeled 22-year-old is very quick off the mark, wins the majority of the challenges to which he commits and is dominant in the air.

When it comes to regaining possession for his team, he's an absolute machine. He's won the ball a staggering 293 times this season, which puts him second among defenders across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues - even above Arsenal's William Saliba (278).

"His box-defending is absolutely world-class," Eintracht coach Toppmoller said earlier in the season. "He doesn't allow anything to get past him."

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a player that has progressed at such a rapid rate, there are issues in Pacho's game that need to be addressed, issues that became increasingly evident the longer the Bundesliga season wore on.

While he remained strong in one-on-one situations during the second half of the campaign, he began to be drawn out of position, making it easier to get by him. Indeed, it's telling that he ended up being dribbled past by an opponent on 26 occasions. To put that in context, Liverpool's Jarell Quansah was only beaten 15 times, and Van Dijk only four.

Pacho's decision-making, thus, began to be called into question. He was still making eye-catching passes from deep, but he started taking the wrong option in possession with worrying regularity. In total, he made three unforced errors that led to a shot on goal. By contrast, Van Dijk didn't make one all season long for Liverpool.

This where it gets interesting. Speculation is mounting that Pacho could be one of the first signings of the post-Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool. Even before the German stepped down and Arne Slot was confirmed as his replacement, it was claimed that the Reds were closely monitoring Pacho's progress in Frankfurt.

However, whether they're willing to pay the reported €60m (£51m/$65m) fee that the Bundesliga outfit are said to be seeking remains to be seen. As already mentioned, Pacho is far from the finished article, and there are plenty of pundits in Germany who do not believe he's ready for such a step up in class.

On the other hand, we know that Liverpool are looking for a long-term successor to Van Dijk, a young player of enormous potential - and Pacho certainly fits the bill in that regard. He came on leaps and bounds playing with Alderweireld; imagine how much he might develop working alongside the Dutchman every day!