Revealed: Why Liverpool star Van Dijk took so long to reach the top

Martin Macdonald

• 17 Nov 2021 13:18 GMT
• 6 min read

Virgil van Dijk is currently considered to be one of, if not the best defender in the world.

Before his season-ending knee ligament injury last season, he was at the top of his game and in the two campaigns previous had helped Liverpool to a Champions League victory as well as their first-ever Premier League title win.

The big Dutchman is perhaps not firing on all cylinders in 2021/22 but it seems inevitable that he will reclaim the form that has seen him win UEFA's Player of the Year and finish runner-up in the Ballon d'Or.

Van Dijk's attributes have always been there to see at Liverpool, Southampton, Celtic and even Groningen.

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He is tall, powerful, extremely quick and has the ability to spray diagonal passes out to the wings that some of the best midfielders on the scene would be proud of.

It always seemed inevitable that he was destined for greatness, which is why Liverpool broke the bank to sign him for a cool £75 million in January of 2018.

Even with his clear quality, Van Dijk has always had to prove himself, highlighted by the fact that a transfer to Southampton from Celtic was required first before any of the elite sides started to take notice.

In Scotland in particular, he was a cut above any other player in the league, while at St. Mary's he outgrew the midtable Premier League side.

It took Van Dijk to the age of 26 to earn the big transfer that would be the most important of his career.

Why did nobody buy Van Dijk earlier?

The man who helped bring Van Dijk to the United Kingdom was David Moss, head of Celtic's scouting department in 2013.

Moss recalls how he would often receive enquiries about Van Dijk's development, only for clubs to refrain from putting in a transfer bid.

At the time, Van Dijk was accused of simply being a big fish in a small pond in Scotland, or perhaps not being up top it in the Champions League.

"With Van Dijk, we signed him from Groningen in Holland," Moss told Goal.

"Our player trading model was the only way we could make money, so we would actively look to sell players to the Premier League after two or three years. That was a success for both us and them.

"When he was at Celtic, the number of Premier League clubs that used to phone me and ask about Van Dijk was huge. I always said the same things to everyone: ‘He is like a grown man playing in a children’s playground - he stands out like a sore thumb. Just sign him immediately, don’t think about it.'

"He was fast, won all his headers, you couldn’t beat him one-v-one, he could pass 60 yards on both feet and he scored free-kicks. Incredibly, I kept getting excuses.

"They were often about his performances in the Champions League or saying doing it in the Scottish league didn’t mean a lot, and people wouldn’t listen.

"Everyone inside Celtic had total belief in him, but a lot of people in football didn’t. For me, he didn’t need the Southampton step, he was ready for a big six move straight from Celtic. They just weren’t brave enough to bring him in."

Van Dijk's importance to the Liverpool squad was never felt more than when he was injured in 2020/21 as the club struggled failed to defend their champions' crown and only just managed to qualify for the Champions League on the final day of the season.

He has recently signed a new contract to extend his stay at Anfield until 2025.