Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk (born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Netherlands national team. Considered one of the best defenders in the world, he is known for his strength, leadership and aerial ability. He is the only defender to win UEFA Men's Player of the Year, and has finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and Best FIFA Men's Player. After beginning his professional career with Groningen, Van Dijk moved to Celtic in 2013, where he won the Scottish Premiership and was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in both of his seasons with the club, also winning the Scottish League Cup in the latter. In 2015, he joined Southampton before signing for Liverpool in January 2018 for £75 million, a world record transfer fee for a defender at the time. With Liverpool, Van Dijk reached back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter. He was also named PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season in his first full season. Van Dijk later won the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and helped end the club's 30 year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League. Van Dijk made his international debut for the Netherlands in 2015 and became captain of his country in 2018. In 2018, he scored his first international goal in a 3–0 win against Portugal. A year later, Van Dijk captained the Netherlands to the final of the inaugural UEFA Nations League, where they finished runners-up.