VIRGIL VAN DIJK“There has always been talk in the Netherlands about the fact there should be
a ‘next Jaap Stam’. Then at a later age came Virgil van Dijk. He is perhaps better
than I ever was. Virgil is without a doubt an impressive appearance”
“Virgil van Dijk. Wow, what a player,
signing him and Alisson just took them
to the next level. I could have taken
him to Hull. I had dinner with Kenny
Dalglish and the owner of Celtic,
Dermot Desmond, in Barbados – I’m
name-dropping now – and Desmond
was saying he couldn’t understand
why nobody has gone for Van Dijk, so
I tried to get him before he went to
Southampton but I had no chance.”“Virgil van Dijk is one of the
best in the world. He is the
complete defender, always
calm, a great player. The
spotlight usually goes to
the strikers, so it is nice to
see a special defender get
deserved recognition. I’m
very happy for him.”Jaap Stam, former Dutch international
Steve Bruce, Newcastle boss
Carles Puyol
“I don’t think anybody really knew too much about him but then two, three
months into the season the lads were saying ‘this guy is a player’. He just
became the Rolls Royce of the team.”Scott Brown, Celtic skipper
“Beast of a player, beast of
a man, my goodness what a
player.”Roy Keane, Sky Sports
“He’s the best in the world... We never
doubted that his progress would be as
superb as it is.”Neil Lennon, Celtic boss