The Reds captain has heaped praise upon the Netherlands international for his “immense” contribution to the club’s cause over the last two years
Jordan Henderson has described Virgil van Dijk as an “unbelievable player”, while hailing the defender’s “huge impact” at Liverpool since his move from Southampton in January 2018.
The Reds spent £75 million ($93m) to lure Van Dijk to Anfield, and he has since justified that club-record transfer fee by establishing himself as arguably the most consistent performer in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have won the Champions League, Super Cup and World Club Cup with the Dutchman leading by example in the heart of the defence, while also emerging as the dominant force in English football.
Van Dijk has already racked up 113 appearances for Liverpool, and was acknowledged by UEFA for his outstanding performances with the Men’s Player of the Year award for 2019.
He also finished second in the final voting for the Ballon d’Or behind Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, having been widely praised as the driving force behind Liverpool’s impressive recent transformation.
Liverpool are now on course to win a first top-flight crown in 30 years, and Henderson is happy to credit Van Dijk for providing the “big boost” the club needed to start challenging for major honours once again.
When asked to sum up what the 28-year-old has added to Klopp’s squad, the Reds captain told BT Sport: “What hasn’t he brought, really?!
“I couldn’t speak highly enough of him as a player. Of course, everybody knows how good he is and what he’s done over the last couple of years for the team, he’s been immense.
“He’s won his individual awards and rightly so. He’s an unbelievable defender, an unbelievable player.
“But for me, he’s brought something huge off the pitch. I couldn’t speak highly enough of him off the pitch and the type of man and person that he is.
“He’s an incredible person, a great leader to have in the dressing room and he’s given everybody a big boost from the first minute that he came in.
“Every day it’s a pleasure to be around him, [he’s] always smiling, always in a good frame of mind and he’s had a huge impact in the dressing room and on the pitch since he’s been at the club.
“He does things properly, leads by example and I’m just delighted for him [with] how he’s been playing and getting all the awards that he’s been getting because it’s well deserved and he deserves everything he gets.”
Source: Goal.com
