Virgil van Dijk is one of the best centre-backs around and Bobby Zamora has compared him with some of the all-time Premier League greats.
Everyone was eager to give their opinion when Liverpool broke the transfer record for signing a defender on Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman came at a cost of £75m, just three years after he moved from Celtic to Southampton in a deal worth £13m.
The centre-back has shown he is worth every penny Liverpool spent, remaining the important player under Arne Slot that he was when Jurgen Klopp was in charge.
Van Dijk has the honours which prove his high value. He is the only defender to win the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award and finished as the runner-up for the Ballon d’Or and the Best FIFA Men’s Player award. Van Dijk has also been selected in the FIFPRO Men’s World 11 in four different years.
Bobby Zamora was asked by GOAL how van Dijk compared with defenders from his era and he was quick to praise the man who has been so reliable for Liverpool over the past few seasons.
“Virgil’s obviously elite, Zamora said. “Listen there’s not a vast amount of difference between them. He’s big, he’s strong, he reads the game, he’s fast. But that’s an ultra elite, that’s one of five in the world.
“I played against him when he was at Southampton, but the likes of John Terry, [Ricardo] Carvalho, Rio [Ferdinand], [Nemanja] Vidic, [Sol] Campbell. Those big strong defenders who could understand and read the game. They could all still do everything that they could do then in today’s game with ease.”
Even at 34 years old, the Dutchman is still ever present at the heart of the Liverpool defence. He mostly impresses with his defending, but he did chip in with a goal which saw the Reds defeat Atletico Madrid in their opening Champions League fixture.
Liverpool made sure their captain was tied down to a new contract earlier this year, which means he will remain at the club until after his 36th birthday. His new deal keeps him at Anfield until the summer of 2027 and if he is able to keep playing at his current level, who knows what the future has in store for the rock in Liverpool’s backline?
His career has already placed him among the most decorated defenders of the modern era, and the respect he continues to command from former players and peers underlines his standing in football history with more chapters still to be written at Anfield.
