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What Jamie Carragher said about Virgil van Dijk when he first signed for Liverpool in 2018 after spotting issue in his game
Virgil van Dijk is considered to be a bona fide Liverpool legend at this point.
Indeed, ♔Van Dijk is considered the best defender in the world💯 by some, and he’s won all there is to win at Anfield.
𒀰However, when the Dutchman first arrived at Anfield there was a level of scepticism around the signing.
£75m for a defender from Southampton seemed like a lot of money, and even ꦅAlan Shearer admitted he got it wrong about Van Dijk.
Speaking to Sky Sports back in 2018, Jamie Carragher𒅌 shared his verdict on the Van Dijk signing, and he had some questions too.
Jamie Carragher’s comments when Liverpool signed Virgil van Dijk
Carragher spoke about Virgil van Dijk just after Liverpool announced his signing.
🥂The pundit said that Van Dijk was the right man for Liverpool, but he did raise a few questions.
♌Indeed, Carragher said that he wasn’t necessarily sold on Van Dijk’s leadership ability, while he also claimed that the defender had to get fitter claiming that he actually needed to lose some weight.
🦂“Have they got the right man?” Carragher was asked.
🍨“I think so. I think there’s a dearth of top-class centre-backs in world football, hence why I think so many clubs wanted him,” Carragher said.
🌜“I think people will look at the transfer fee and that’s normally what strikers are going for, but as with any transfer fee, if he does his job it’ll be worth it.
✃“Van Dijk has to take Liverpool to trophies and be Liverpool’s number one centre-back or so as you say £75m is a record transfer for a defender.
“What will Van Dijk bring to Liverpool?”
🅺“You’d think, size, presence, pace, people talk about leadership, but that remains to be seen really whether he can bring that to Liverpool,” Carragher said.
꧂“Looking at Van Dijk these past few months he’s got to step up. He looks like he needs to get fitter and maybe even lose a few pounds really. He hasn’t been playing as much lately, he’s been on the bench. I don’t know if he’ll go straight in. You know, Jurgen Klopp he likes to rotate players, he may want to see him in training and get him right and shed a few pounds.”
Virgil van Dijk’s first season at Liverpool
💦Carragher had some doubts about Van Dijk when he arrived at Anfield, but it didn’t take the Dutchman long to prove the pundit wrong.
🔜Indeed, Van Dijk immediately endeared himself to the Liverpool fans with a goal against Everton on his debut for the club.
🐬Ultimately, Van Dijk proved to be a transformative signing for Liverpool, and he had a stellar first six months at Anfield.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Clean sheets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil van Dijk’s first season at Liverpool | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
⭕Van Dijk would continue to go from strength to strength after that first season too. He won the Champions League in his second year at Anfield, followed by the Premier League the year after before winning the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup twice in the years that followed.
ဣ£75m for Van Dijk, at the time, looked to be a lot of money, but it’s fair to say that the Liverpool captain has more than justified that pricetag in recent years.