Virgil Van Dijk is a Dutch football player who is the captain of the Netherlands national team. The Dutch professional footballer plays for the English Premier Club Liverpool and is their chief orchestrator at the back. He plays as a centre-back and is among the rare defenders who are good with the ball on their feet. He is a skillful defender, who is adept at dealing with crunch situations. He is phenomenal in reading the game and was dribbled for the 1st time in 50 games in the game against Arsenal on 24th August 2018.
He is one of the best examples of what an Ideal defender should be like. He is among the few footballers who are gifted with the talent of supreme pace, technique, and power. He also has an eye for goal. He is a strong and muscular player who lands on the ground not only just to play but also, to dominate.
Early Life
Virgil Van Dijk was born on 8th July 1991 at Breda in a middle-class family to Dutch father-Ray Van Dyke and Surinamese mother- Ruby Van Dyke. During his childhood, he used to juggle time between his football practice at William II academy and a part-time job as a dishwasher, which he had to do, to earn bread and butter for his family.
He started off as a right-back but was unsuccessful during his initial days. He was then shifted to a central defensive position in 2008. Surprisingly, his height grew 18 cm at the age of 17 and he was transferred to another club in the same year when he was scouted by former Dutch international Martin Koeman, who was working for FC Groningen at the time.
Personal Life
Virgil Van Dijk tied the knot with Rike Nootigedagt and have been blessed with a baby girl named Nila. Both share a great bond and have been seen together on various vacations and occasions, posting pictures with each other.
The couple is deeply in love which saw Rike even leave her job to move with Van Dijk wherever football took him:
“I worked as a sales manager and sold different fashion brands to the stores in Holland.”
“I loved it but had to resign to follow my man everywhere football takes him to.
“So far, we’ve been settling well and having adventures with our lovely dog.”
There was an intriguing incident that took place in Van Dijk’s life when his wife was pregnant. She was due in September 2014, which coincided with the prospective debut of Van Dijk as he got a Senior Call-up.
Van Dijk did not want to miss the event and the star footballer pushed for an induced birth. The birth went fine but the centre-back’s International call-up didn’t go as expected and he had to wait for another year for his break.
Virgil only uses his first name upon the kit, his uncle disclosing the reason behind this is a feud between him and his father.
Professional Life
Van Dijk started his career at Dutch club Groningen in 2010. He played his first match for the club in the UEFA Europa League play-off match, where he also scored his maiden professional goals for the first time, helping his side win the game by 5-1. Unfortunately, during the campaign, he got injured and was admitted to the hospital for months. After his appearance back on the field, he scored seven goals in 62 matches.
In June 2013, he joined Scottish club Celtic for a fee of €3 million dollars. He debuted in the game, making an appearance in the final 13 minutes as a substitute. In 2014, his club won the Scottish Premiership and he was nominated as the Player of the Year but the title was given to Kris Commons, his fellow club member. In 2018, he joined Liverpool for a record-breaking fee of £75 million dollars. On 8th April 2019, he was nominated as the Player of the Year. In what was one of the finest years for him, on 22nd March 2019, he was given the Captaincy of Netherlands by Ronald Koeman.
| Club | Season |
| Groningen | 2010-12 |
| Celtic | 2013-16 |
| Southampton | 2015-17 |
| Liverpool | 2017-current |
Honors
Celtic
- Scottish Premiership: 2013–14, 2014–15
- Scottish League Cup: 2014–15
Liverpool
- UEFA Champions League: 2018–19; runner-up: 2017–18
- UEFA Super Cup: 2019
Netherlands
- UEFA Nations League runner-up: 2018–19
Achievements
- PFA Scotland Team of the Year: 2013–14, 2014–15
- Celtic FC Players’ Player of the Year: 2013–14
- Southampton Player of the Season: 2015–16
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017–18, 2018–19]
- FIFA FIFPro World XI5th Team: 2018
- Premier League Player of the Season: 2018–19
- PFA Team of the Year: 2018–19 Premier League
- PFA Player of the Month: November 2018
- Premier League Player of the Month: December 2018
- UEFA Team of the Year: 2018
- Liverpool Fans Player of the Season Award: 2018–19
- Liverpool Players’ Player of the Season Award: 2018–19
- PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2018–19
- UEFA Nations League FinalsTeam of the Tournament: 2019
Virgil van Dijk Personal Details
Name: Virgil van Dijk
Nationality: Dutch
Date of Birth: 8th July 1991
Age: 28
Playing Position: Centre Back
Physical Measurements
Height: 6ft 4in
Weight: 6ft 4in
Eye Colour: 6ft 4in
Hair Colour: Black
Virgil van Dijk Net worth
Virgil Van Dijk’s Net Worth is estimated to be 15 Million dollar
Virgil van Dijk Controversy
- Virgil van Dijk has snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi by naming Ronaldinho as the best player of all time.
- Virgil Van Dijk was at the centre of another controversy when Southampton lodged a complaint to the Premier League in regards to illegal poaching of Van Dijk by Liverpool in early 2017. Liverpool then followed it up with an apology and managed to sign the Dutch centre-back in the summer of 2017.
Social Media Profiles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Virgivandijk/
Twitter: @VigilvDijk
Instagram: @vigilvandijk
