It’s official, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is the 2018-19 Premier League Player of the Season.
The Premier League have revealed the news on their website and, although we’ll have to wait until just before 5pm to see if Liverpool have clinched the title, Van Dijk has something to celebrate after a terrific season.
The towering Dutchman has featured in all 37 league games this term, in which Liverpool have won 29 of them and kept a staggering 19 clean sheets.
It will certainly go well on his mantlepiece alongside the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award he won at the end of April.
He is the first defender to claim the Player of the Season award since Vincent Kompany in 2011-12, the season where Manchester City lifted their first Premier League trophy. A good omen, perhaps?
His victory also means the award returns to Anfield for a second straight season after Mohamed Salah’s success this time last year.
As well as supporters, the club captains of all 20 Premier League teams and a panel of football experts decided the recipient from a shortlist including Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Van Dijk’s team-mate Sadio Mane.
The 27-year-old will be focused on helping the Reds achieve one last win when Wolves visit Anfield on the final day of the season and hope that Brighton & Hove Albion can take something from Man City.
That’d put the cherry on top of a remarkable campaign.
