Widely regarded as one of, if not the best centre-back in the world, Virgil Van Dijk didn’t have an easy route to stardom.
Unlike his national teammate Matthijs de Ligt, whom the footballing world raves about at the age of 19, the Liverpool centre-back was widely unheard of on this side of the Channel until Celtic took a gamble on him.
The move to Parkhead back in 2013 from FC Groningen took place just before his 22nd birthday, and while he did impress in Scotland, the Dutch centre-back still wasn’t swimming in offers from other leagues.
Speaking to France Football, Van Dijk said: “I had to work hard. Even when I was at Celtic, Premier League teams were very suspicious of me. They didn’t want to take a risks because I was playing in the Scottish Premiership.
“I continued to progress, but nothing was easy. Everyone has their destiny, their own path. The one I’ve taken belongs to me. I think I needed to live through that.”
Other than the player himself, Southampton were the ones who benefited the most from spending £15m to take Van Dijk from Celtic, managing to earn five times that amount in January 2018 from his sale to Liverpool.
A few questioned that fee, but his performances under Jürgen Klopp quickly put an end to that, with almost everyone now seeing it as money very well spent.
