‘Almost perfection’: Martin Keown make claim about Liverpool FC star
Arsenal legend Martin Keown says Liverpool FC defender Virgil van Dijk is the best-ever Premier League defender
Martin Keown has claimed that Liverpool FC star Virgil van Dijk is the best-ever Premier League defender.
The Netherlands international has transformed the Reds defence over the 24 months since his club record £75m move to Liverpool FC from Southampton in 2018 January transfer window.
Van Dijk has reached successive Champions League finals, helping Jurgen Klopp’s side to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Madrid showpiece last term.
Liverpool FC finished with a record points tally for a Premier League runner-up last season after Van Dijk and his team-mates amassed a staggering 97 points but finished a point adrift of champions Manchester City.
Van Dijk helped the Merseyside outfit to keep the best defensive record in the Premier League to underline his impact at Liverpool FC given the club’s previous reputation for being poor defensively.
The Dutch star capped an incredible 2019 by being named Fifa’s Best Defender, Uefa’s defender of the year and finishing behind Lionel Messi in the Ballon d’Or standings.
Former Arsenal defender Keown explained why he believes Van Dijk is the best defender in Premier League history ahead of great centre-halves such as Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and John Terry.
“I think he has to be [the best ever],” Keown told talkSPORT.
“It’s almost perfection to watch him play.
“He was up in Scotland and nobody really wanted him. He went to Southampton but anyone could have taken it. He seemed to be a player who was perhaps slow to mature, but now he’s there and he wants to win things, and he’s very much behind all of that [for Liverpool].
“Man City jumped out of that, they didn’t want to pay the big money to sign him but, what was it, £75m? That now looks fantastic value.
“It’s the right time and the right moment for him.
“I think with Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren and Joe Gomez, Liverpool have got the best four central defenders [in the Premier League].
“And if you’re the person playing alongside Van Dijk, he just gives you so much reassurance.”
Liverpool FC are sitting at the top of the Premier League table with a big cushion as things stand.
