The Middlesbrough defender scored his first international goal for his country’s U21s side in their 3-0 victory over Sweden earlier this week and though he plays in the same position as his sibling, he insisted they are not “competitive” any more and he’d love to turn out for the team with him.

He told MFC.co.uk: “We were competitive when we were younger, but now it’s just that we want to see each other perform well.

“The dream for both of us would be that we are both in the Dutch team. That would be the ultimate dream and hopefully we can achieve that.

“When I was younger, because of the things he had already experienced, I knew what to expect in certain situations. That was really helpful to me.”

Rav also faces competition for a spot in the senior squad from the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Stefan de Vrij, Matthijs de Ligt and Micky van de Ven but he tries not to think too much about the competition.

Asked why the Dutch do so well in the position, he said: “I actually don’t know! Maybe it’s because we’re a tall country.

“I’ve just had a conversation about this with Woody (Jonathan Woodgate). We have so many central defenders, but it doesn’t matter. If I perform well, I know I can be one of them as well.

“Of course those players are there but you don’t have to look at them. You just have to keep performing and hopefully I can be there as well. That is my target.”