Liverpool’s wonderful goalkeeper Alisson reckons Virgil van Dijk petrifies our opponents with his very presence!
The Brazilian was discussing the exceptional central defenders he has in front of him at club level – and while he paid compliments to Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren – he was happy to admit Virgil is the best of the bunch.
“He gives a lot of confidence for the team and the players,” Alisson told the official website.
“When you have Virgil van Dijk – the giant – on the pitch, maybe it scares the opposition. For me, he is special.
“I have great defenders [in front of me] – Joel, Joe Gomez, Dejan. Everyone did a great job this season. But Virgil has something special, he is the big man.”
Right now, no other centre-back on the planet can touch van Dijk. His performances in 2018/19 were unrivalled and there is simply no transfer fee any potential suitor could offer that Liverpool would consider accepting.
He is the leader of our backline and at 27, is arguably not even in his peak yet.
Such is his composed, relaxed style – we can see van Dijk performing at a world-class level for much of the next decade, which is a crazy thought!
It’ll be interesting to see who starts next season alongside him. We think if Gomez enjoys a productive summer, he has a good chance, considering his jaw-dropping talent.
But Matip proved during the Champions League victory that he’s an elite defender, too.