Virgil van Dijk has played with a raft of top players over the course of his career, many of them during his time at Liverpool.
Van Dijk’s spell at Anfield so far has coincided with one of the best periods of the club’s history. As a result, plenty of stars have shared the field with the Dutchman.
So when he was asked by Gary Lineker on The Rest Is Football podcast to named the very best he’s played alongside, Van Dijk was a little bit stumped.
“I don’t want to put other players down,” smiled the 32-year-old. “And I’m not asking you to,” countered Lineker.
Ultimately, the captain mentioned four of his current or former Liverpool teammates by name. But there seems to be one who stands out above all for Virgil.
Virgil van Dijk names best ever teammate
Liverpool supporters will likely be able to name the candidates themselves, many are still at the club. But as Klopp’s great Reds team has slowly been disassembled, others have drifted away over time.
And, according to Van Dijk, it’s one of those who’s already left Liverpool who is the player most worthy of the ‘best ever’ title.
“I think Bobby Firmino has been a big figure in the success we had over the last years,” says the captain. “He kept those two next to him [Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah], who are outstanding and maybe one of the best wingers in Premier League history, kept them together.
“The triangle they were, the way they worked together and personally for me, the defensive work they did in order to make it easier at the back. It was crazy, outstanding.
“He has been so good and also difficult to defend in training and that makes us learn how to deal with dropping nines or wingers that make those runs in behind and things like that,” Van Dijk added. “So, I would give credit to him.
“But at the moment I’m playing with amazing players, Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker. I won’t forget Joel Matip, obviously he’s injured now but he’s been incredible for the football club coming in as a free agent.”
Why Van Dijk simply had to pick Bobby
It’s crazy to think that Firmino only left the club last year. It has felt like such a long time since he was last on the pitch for Liverpool.
Unfortunately, the past 10 or 11 months haven’t been too kind to the Brazilian, as he struggles to get to grips with playing in Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, his difficulties at a much lower level shouldn’t detract from just how good he was at Liverpool. As Van Dijk mentions, Firmino was the glue that kept the legendary trio of he, Mane and Salah together for so long.
The other two may have scored more goals, but it was Bobby who stood apart as the most technically gifted of the three. Virgil’s tip to the 32-year-old just goes to show how highly rated he was by his teammates. How we wish he’d stayed.