Erling Haaland has selected Virgil van Dijk as the toughest defender he has faced in his seven-year career as a professional footballer.
The Leeds-born forward burst onto the world scene at RB Salzburg and there he was placed in the same group as Liverpool, where he first met our No.4.
There have also been subsequent meetings at international level between Norway and Holland and when the striker was asked about his hardest defensive opponent to date, there was only one choice.
The 21-year-old said: “You know how tall he [van Dijk] is, how strong he is and how fast he is and also the timing is crazy.
“I don’t think I won one duel against him, because he’s a physical monster”.
It’s huge praise for the Dutch captain to be labelled as the toughest opponent, particularly with it coming so soon after Ronaldinho had similar praise for him.
There won’t be many of our supporters who will disagree with the decision and it’s great to see the world-wide adoration for our centre-half.
You can view Haaland’s comments on van Dijk via ESPN UK on Instagram:
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