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Virgil van Dijk and Marc Guehi could become teammates at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

Virgil van Dijk has admitted that signing a new defender will "accelerate" Liverpool's improvement, with the Reds having held talks with Crystal Palace over a move for England international Marc Guehi.

Liverpool earned a dramatic 4-2 win over Bournemouth in their Premier League opener on Friday thanks to two late strikes from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah.

However, their defensive performance came in for criticism and they also conceded twice to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.

Liverpool have signed a new defender, bringing in teenage prospect Giovanni Leoni from Parma, but BBC Sport are reporting that the club have also held initial talks with Palace about a move for Guehi.

Palace are said to want around £40million for the centre-back, who is out of contract next summer, and Van Dijk was asked about the prospect of Liverpool signing a new defender after their win over Bournemouth.

"You can say you have to accelerate it (improvement) but that is down to the market," Van Dijk said.

That's what we have to work on."

Guehi has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool(Image: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Van Dijk's comments come after Palace chairman Steve Parish admitted they may be forced to sell Guehi this summer in order to avoid losing him on a free transfer next year.

Joachim [Andersen] went [to Fulham last summer] and we couldn't afford to lose both.

"We then had another bid [for Guehi] in January but that was a different situation.

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