Former Liverpool star John Barnes has tipped Virgil van Dijk to win the PFA Player of the Year award if he continues his form for the remainder of the campaign.
Mohamed Salah won the award last season as he became the first player to score 32 goals in a single season since the league was trimmed down to 20 teams and Barnes thinks that another Reds’ star has the chance to claim the prize at the end of this year.
Van Dijk is currently the bookmakers favourite to win the award and when asked by The Sport Review if he could win the award, Barnes said:
If he plays the way he does and Liverpool win the league [he could win the PFA award]. We may not win the league but he can still do that if he continues to play the way he is playing and have the effect that he has. But it’s only halfway through [the season]. If Liverpool lose the next 10 games and we lose 5-0, he’s not going to. He has a chance – and he has had a fantastic first half of the season.
Barnes also went on to say that he’s not been surprised by Van Dijk’s individual ability but did say that he did not expect the Dutchman to have such an influence of the rest of the team
He hasn’t taken me by surprise because I know the quality he has but I didn’t expect him to have such a big impact on the team. He has helped them get the best defensive record. Alisson has helped that. A centre-half and a goalkeeper is a spine of a team. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and even Dejan Lovren are all doing better once they had a commanding centre-half alongside them. It is the obvious impact he has had on the defence.
Van Dijk is currently away in Dubai with the rest of the Liverpool team on a warm-weather training trip ahead of the game against Leicester City on Wednesday 30th January.
