John van't Schip says it is stupid to compare Liverpool signing Sepp van den Berg with Virgil van Dijk.
The Reds beat Bayern Munich to the 17-year-old's signature, signing him from PEC Zwolle in a 1.3m deal.
Van't Schip, who handed van den Berg his senior debut at Zwolle, believes it in incorrect to compare the youngster with his older countryman.
He told the Liverpool Echo of the Van Dijk talk: "It's stupid of course. You just have to let him develop in his own way.
"He doesn't have the physical [body] of Virgil and he's got a totally different pathway. Virgil started with some lower teams and could develop himself with Groningen and Celtic.
"Seppi has only played 20 games in the Eredivisie and is now going to Liverpool. That's a totally different build up.
"I think the thing with him is people must understand he's not a first team player yet. They have to get him there and he'll have to work.
"If Sepp was playing at Ajax he would not be in the first team, he would be in the second team or maybe have some time playing in the cups."
