Virgil van Dijk is the architect of the new Liverpool defence and Ian Wright has said that Scottish champions Celtic have to take huge credit for bringing him to Britain after he was rejected by so many top scouts.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have only conceded seven goals all season and Van Dijk is quickly repaying the huge £75million he cost Liverpool from Southampton.
He was magnificent again on Friday night as Liverpool beat Wolves 2-0 – dominant in defence and a goal-scorer at the other end.
Southampton bought him from Celtic for £14million after the Scottish side bought him for £2.7million from FC Groningen.
Talking on Match of the Day (Sat, 10.30pm, BBC1), Ian Wright said that Van Dijk was now “a snip” at £75million but said that Celtic must take the credit for having faith in him when so many “top scouts” didn’t.
“Virgil Van Dijk has got everything. When you consider the amount of top scouts that passed on him, you have to give Celtic credit,” Wright said.
“Klopp has to get credit, £75million that people look at now and say it’s a snip. He has everything. We’re talking about the best defender in the world right now.”
OPINION
The £2.7million that Celtic paid for van Dijk must go down as one of the bargain buys of all time now. Van Dijk is simply imperious at the moment and it’s no coincidence that Liverpool are sitting on top of the league with the best defensive record in the division. Everyone though that Man City would run away with the Premier League this season and were asking whether Liverpool could hang onto their coattails. Well, the roles have been reversed now and Klopp’s men are four points ahead on Christmas. Van Dijk, along with new goalkeeper Alisson, has to take huge credit for that and we agree with Wright, van Dijk is the best defender in the world right now. When Celtic signed him Neil Lennon said, “Delighted that we have acquired Virgil van Dijk… a highly talented young player.” How right he was. Lennon can rightly be very proud of this deal.