Virgil van Dijk was named as UEFA’s Player of the Year and that award was more confirmation that the Dutchman is cementing himself as the best defender in world football.
With a new Premier League season underway, the Liverpool stalwart has received a huge rating in the new batch of Match Attax cards that reflects his dominance.
Within the Liverpool squad, Van Dijk is rated at £10 million – only Sadio Mane and Mo Salah (£12m) are rated higher than the Dutchman. As Liverpool’s best defender, he’ll be a card that fans are looking to get hold of very quickly to add to their collection.
After his impeccable season last time around, his defensive rating is 90, the best in the entire Reds squad. Alisson (88) and Andy Robertson (89) come close but have not been able to match the imperious Dutch defender.
Such was the level of quality that van Dijk displayed last season, he is up there with the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or and after comfortably beating both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year, there is serious hope he can win the big one.
It would be a historic moment for a defender to get his hands on the Ballon d’Or for the first time since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
The likes of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane have long been held up as the benchmark for defenders, but Van Dijk’s recent performances seem to have raised the bar and you can’t imagine there would be too many complaints if he were to go all the way and win another individual award.
You have the chance to find your inner Jurgen Klopp when the cards are released later this week, available in all good newsagents and online from www.toppsdirect.com.
