Manchester City megastar Erling Haaland has lavished praise on to Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk.
The Norwegian goalscorer was quizzed about the toughest defender he has faced so far in the Premier League in an interview with Optus Sport, as he proceeding to name the Dutchman.
Considering Erling Haaland is widely viewed as the best striker in the world, it goes to show how incredible of a centre-back Virgil van Dijk is.
Erling Haaland raves about Virgil van Dijk
The former Borussia Dortmund No.9 has previously sung the Reds legend’s praises as well, naming him as the most challenging central defender he has ever faced.
Haaland noted how the 31-year-old is a ‘physical monster’ and the timing of his challenges is ‘crazy’, which goes to show how highly he rates him.
Once again, Erling Haaland has given Virgil van Dijk the ultimate compliment.
“There’s many good defenders. I have to say, Liverpool’s Van Dijk is so good. I’ve met him many times with [the] national team, played in Salzburg, met him, he’s really good. That’s who I can think of right now.”
Rewriting the history about Van Dijk’s brilliance would be silly
While Virgil van Dijk has been miles off his best, the revelation from Erling Haaland is yet another indicator of the calibre of player he is.
In his absolute pomp, the former Celtic colossus was simply the best centre-half in the world and at his best, there are not many that can claim to have been better than him.
In fact, Van Dijk’s remarkable football brain ensured that he made the game look easy as he would anticipate the danger even before it happened, instead of sliding into challenges.
Whether the Dutch captain’s drop-off in form is due to an athletic decline, poor form, the system’s failure this season or all of the factors is a mystery.
But what is not is that Virgil van Dijk has been a phenomenon in a Liverpool shirt and it would be revisionist to deny that.
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