The Liverpool defender was brought to Britain by Lennon in his first spell as Celtic boss.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has given his thoughts on Virgil van Dijk missing out on the men’s player award at the Best FIFA Football ceremony, admitting he was disappointed to see the Hoops ex-ace not land the coveted award despite being “the outstanding player in domestic and European football this year”.
The Liverpool and Netherlands defender won the PFA Player of Year award last season and helped the Reds to win the Champions League in June, but was beaten into second place by Barcelona and Argentina’s Lionel Messi at FIFA’s awards ceremony in Milan, with Juventus and Portugal ace Cristiano Ronaldo in third.
Lennon, who brought Van Dijk to British football when he signed him from Dutch club Groningen for a reported £2.6million fee (BBC Sport) during his first spell as Celtic boss, also admitted that being a defender “probably” held him back when it came to individual awards when up against prolific attackers.
“Messi is Messi and, if you look at the numbers, we probably take it for granted what he does because he just does it so well on a regular basis,” the Bhoys boss is quoted by Sky Sports News as saying. “But I thought Virgil was the outstanding player in domestic and European football this year and he deserved to win it. I’m disappointed for him.”
Asked if being a defender holds Van Dijk back when it comes to individual awards, Lennon said: “Probably. We’re in an era of Ronaldo and Messi. We’re lucky to have them and we should enjoy them. Remarkable is an understatement when it comes to those two. But I felt that as a centre-half he’s just been outstanding in every aspect of his game.”
FIFA has not crowned a defender as its player of the year since 2006, when Fabio Cannavaro won the award after captaining Italy to World Cup glory.
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