Liverpool are set to enter a busy period of the new season as games begin to come thick and fast across all competitions after the international break.
And one player who has been in the thick of the action for club and country this season is Virgil van Dijk.
As the captain of Liverpool and the Netherlands, the experienced defender has played every meaningful game for club and country and continues to age like fine wine, cementing his status as one of the greats of the game.
And now, Toni Kroos has singled out the Dutchman for some unbelievable praise.
Toni Kroos lauds Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk
The Real Madrid icon was asked to rank the five greatest central defenders of the 21st century.
Kroos took his time and named Sergio Ramos, Paulo Maldini and Thiago Silva as his top three, while Van Dijk and Alessandro Nesta completed the rest of his top five.
“At number four, I’ve had Van Dijk there for many, many years now,” said Kroos via Luppen TV as transcribed by Rousing the Kop.
“I’d put it like this: I think he’s gone from being truly outstanding to being more of a very assured, composed defender.
“You can definitely see that he’s now 33 or 34, and you can see that he’s starting to lack a bit of that pace, that he’s losing some of that speed. You see it again and again.
“He’s also had one or two difficult years with Liverpool recently, and he hasn’t always looked completely assured. But I think if we’re not judging him on last season or the last two seasons, he’s an absolute colossus of a centre-back.
“He’s also very good on the ball, has a top-class ability to switch play, and he’s excellent in the air offensively. Yeah, top-class both offensively and defensively in the air.
“I think there was a statistic a few years ago in England that over the course of the entire season, you could count on one hand the number of times he was dribbled past.
“That’s an incredible figure, and he’s simply been an absolute constant. You have to say that.”
When a person like Kroos – who played the game for so long and is a notoriously hard man to please – waxes lyrical about someone, you know he genuinely means it.
