Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is one of the most feared defenders in the Premier League.
Since joining the club, the Dutch centre-back has written his name in English football history and will ultimately go down as one of the best of all time.
He’s taken his game to a new level this season as well, embracing Arne Slot’s style of football that allows him to show off his ability to break lines with passes. The new setup has benefitted him defensively as well, offering that little bit more cover than Jurgen Klopp’s setup did.
It’s paid dividends, as Liverpool have won 15 of their first 17 games in all competitions under Slot, and sit at the top of the Premier League ahead of their trip to Southampton this weekend.
Van Dijk has been an idol for both fans and young players making their way in professional football.
And a former Liverpool target to replace Van Dijk has now said that the Liverpool captain is his idol too.
In an interview with TNT Sports, Levi Colwill revealed that Van Dijk is one of the players he looks up to the most.
“Last year, when we played Liverpool in the first game of the season I played [against] Virgil for the first time,” Colwill said.
“I remember marking him in the box and he said something to me, and I think I might have told him to shut up accidentally or something like that. He just looked at me like ‘who’s this little boy’ and I thought rah, I’ve just disrespected him…my bad, my bad!”
“Just looking at him, I want to be like that or better when I’m older if I could. He is a baller.”
Van Dijk is one of three Liverpool stars currently set to leave the club at the end of the season.
He will be 34 before the start of next season, and FSG’s strategy means there is a reluctance to give older players the kind of big contract Van Dijk surely deserves.
While the futures of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are also still up in the air, Van Dijk did confirm earlier this season that discussions were ongoing between him and the club.
Could Colwill replace Van Dijk?
Liverpool were heavily linked with Colwill during the summer transfer window, and was tipped in some places as a potential Van Dijk replacement.
There is some distance between the two, however.
According to Fotmob, Van Dijk is outperforming Colwill this season in most of the key defensive areas. Van Dijk wins more of his duels (66% to 50%), makes more interceptions (1.82 per 90 to 1.27 per 90), and is dribbled past less (0.18 times per 90 to 0.27 times per 90).
While Colwill is a centre-back by trade, he can also play at left-back and would be a good squad option if Liverpool wanted to recreate the Guardiola and Arteta style of fullback.
However, Liverpool’s links with Milos Kerkez show that Slot is more interested in signing a new Andy Robertson than anything else for that position.
